Resolving station for system for permitting access to media selections

ABSTRACT

In a system for providing access to media selections stored on a remote storage medium, a resolving station is electronically linked to a remote station from which a user transmits a request for access to a selected data composition, the request comprising user identification information and a code corresponding to the selected data composition. The resolving station has storage means for storing, regarding each of a plurality of data compositions, information regarding access authorized for each data composition and accounting information for each data composition; receiving means for accepting from a user a request for access to a selected data composition; means for verifying, based on identification information provided by the user, the code and the access information corresponding to the selected data composition, whether or not the user is authorized for the requested access to the selected data composition; means for implementing, based on the accounting information regarding the selected data composition and the code corresponding to the selected data composition, a predetermined accounting process for access by the user to the selected data composition, if the user is authorized for the requested access to selected data composition; and transmission means for transmitting information regarding authorization of said user to access said selected data composition and the result, if any, of said accounting process for said selected data composition.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/899,179, filed Jul. 26, 2004, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/241,971, filed Sep. 11, 2002 and now U.S. Pat.No. 6,766,946, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/655,655 filed on Sep. 5, 2000 and now abandoned,which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/108,879, filed Jul. 1, 1998 and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,787, which isa Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/991,235,filed Dec. 16, 1997 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,608, the disclosures ofall of which are incorporated herein in there entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for purchasing a personalrecording media, and more particularly to a system capable of searchingone or more musical compositions, editing the searched musicalcompositions, and purchasing a recording media such as CD, MD, cassettetape and the like into which the edited musical compositions areinserted.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, a customer can produce an original compilation recordingmedia which is unique to the customer by renting or purchasing a MD, CD,cassette tape and the like, selecting the customer's favorite musicalcompositions by utilizing a reproducing/recording apparatus such as a CDplayer/recorder, a cassette deck and the like, and editing and recordingthe selected musical compositions into recording media such as a MD, CD,or cassette tape in the customer's preferred order.

For example, even for musical compositions by a single musician orartist, it is rare that all personally favorite musical compositions arerecorded in just one album such as an MD, CD, or cassette tape.Accordingly, when the customer desires to produce a personally originalcompilation recording media such as an album composed of only thecustomer's personally favorite musical compositions, the customer has topurchase or rent a plurality of MDs, CDs, cassette tapes and the like,and then select, edit, and then record personally favorite musicalcompositions using reproducing/editing/recording storage apparatus insuch a manner that a few musical compositions are selected from onealbum, more musical compositions are selected from another album andfurther musical compositions are selected from another album.

Similarly, when the customer desires to produce an album composed ofmusical compositions by a plurality of musicians or artists, a pluralityof albums by each of the musicians or artists have to be purchased orrent, and then the desired personally original compilation recordingmedia must be produced by using the reproducing/editing/recordingstorage apparatus.

In the above mentioned conventional methods, there is a problem, suchthat when a customer desires to produce an original compilationrecording media, the customer has to purchase or rent a plurality ofMDs, CDs, cassette tapes and the like, and then select, edit, and thenrecord personally favorite musical compositions from them usingreproducing/editing/recording storage apparatus, and as a result, itwould be more costly than purchasing one MD, CD, cassette tape and thelike having those personally favorite musical compositions, and also itwould take time for reproducing/editing/recording.

Further, there is another problem, such that because a customer freelyproduces a personally original compilation recording media by copyingthe musical compositions from a plurality of MDs, CDs, cassette tapesand the like, without concern for the existence of the copyrights of themusical compositions, the copyright owners can not collect royalties forthe copyrights regarding their own musical compositions, and as aresult, no return has been provided for the music industries as well asfor the musical composers.

In the view point of their strategies in businesses, the businesses suchas the advertising agencies, broadcasting companies, Internet ServiceProviders (ISPs), mobile-phone ISPs, and the like, who deal with thecustomers directly or indirectly, are targeting the personal informationof the customers for use in their businesses. As a result, the personalinformation of the consumers is quite valuable as one of the marketingtools.

However, there are problems in dealing with the personal information ofcustomers.

Remarkably, the acquisition of personal information from the customersby business agencies generates some legal problems such as privacyproblems. Because of their values, once they have acquired the personalinformation of the customers, many business agencies attempt to re-useor to re-distribute the acquired personal information of the customersfor other purposes and/or for other agencies in the Internet withoutnotifying the customers of the re-uses and/or re-distributions of thepersonal information.

In this regard, some customers claim that their privacy is infringed bythe business agencies because their personal information are re-usedand/or re-distributed without the customer's consent.

Therefore, there needs to be a privacy permission scheme for providing acustomer with an access control of his personal information in order topermit an appropriate use or distribution of the customer's personalinformation while protecting inappropriate use or distribution of thecustomer's personal information by business agencies and/or thirdparties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and methodfor purchasing a personal recording media for arbitrarily selecting ordesignating a customer's favorite musicians or artists, arbitrarilyselecting or designating musical compositions by selected musicians orartists, and purchasing a personally original compilation recordingmedia composed of the selected or designated musical compositions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recordingmedia of recording a personal recording media purchasing program forarbitrarily selecting or designating a customer's favorite musicians orartists, arbitrarily selecting or designating musical compositions bythe selected musicians or artists, and purchasing a personally originalcompilation recording media composed of the selected or designatedmusical compositions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system andmethod for purchasing a personal recording media for automaticallycollecting royalties for copyrights and the like regarding musicalcompositions incorporated into recording media at a time when a customerpurchases a personally original compilation recording media, and forimplementing the return and the like concerning the use of the musicalcompositions for the copyrighters and the like.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide arecording media of recording a personal recording media purchasingprogram for automatically collecting royalties for copyrights and thelike regarding the musical compositions incorporated into recordingmedia at a time when a customer purchases a personally originalcompilation recording media, and for implementing the return and thelike concerning the use of the musical compositions for the copyrightersand the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and methodfor providing a customer with an access control of his personalinformation in order to permit an appropriate use or distribution of thecustomer's personal information while protecting an inappropriate use ordistribution of the customer's personal information by business agenciesand/or third parties.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a systemand method for providing a right holder with an access control of thecontent(s) created by the right holder in order to permit an appropriateuse or distribution of the right holder's content(s) while protecting aninappropriate use or distribution of the right holder's content(s) bybusiness agencies and/or third parties, and for providing a customerwith an access control of his personal information in order to permit anappropriate use or distribution of the customer's personal informationwhile protecting an inappropriate use or distribution of the customer'spersonal information by business agencies and/or third parties.

The objects of the present invention can be achieved by a system forpurchasing a personal recording media, comprising:

a first entering unit for entering identification information in orderto identify a customer;

a unit connected to the first entering unit for identifying whether ornot the customer is an authorized customer based on the enteredidentification information;

a second entering unit connected to the identifying unit for entering atleast one designated information by the customer when the customer isidentified as an authorized customer in accordance with the identifyingunit;

a unit for storing a plurality of information;

a unit connected to the second entering unit and the information storingunit for reading information associated with the designated informationby retrieving the plurality of information in the information storingunit based on the designated information entered by the second enteringunit; and

a unit connected to the information reading unit for recording theinformation read from the information storing unit into a predeterminedrecording media.

Preferably, a system for purchasing a personal recording media accordingto the present invention further includes unit for implementing apredetermined accounting process regarding the recording media intowhich the information has been recorded.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system forpurchasing a personal recording media, comprising:

a first station, including

-   -   a first entering unit for entering identification information in        order to identify a customer;    -   a second entering unit for entering at least one designated        information by the customer when the customer is identified as        an authorized customer;

a second station, including

-   -   a unit connected to the first station for identifying whether or        not the customer is an authorized customer based on the        identification information entered by the first entering unit;

a unit for storing a plurality of information;

a unit for reading information associated with the designatedinformation by retrieving the plurality of information in theinformation storing unit based on the designated information entered bythe second entering unit;

a unit connected to the information reading unit for recording theinformation read from the information storing unit into a predeterminedrecording media; and

a unit for implementing a predetermined accounting process regarding therecording media into which the information has been recorded,

wherein, the customer can purchase the recording media at the firststation in such a manner that the recording media consisting of theinformation corresponding to an arbitrary number of the designatedinformation entered from the second entering unit by the customer at thefirst station is produced at the second station, and then the producedrecording media is delivered to the first station.

Preferably, the first station further includes

a unit for storing a specific information consisting of a part of theplurality of information stored in the information storing unit at thesecond station; and

a unit for retrieving the specific information storing unit based on thedesignated information entered from the second entering unit by thecustomer and for displaying, to the customer, the specific informationassociated with the designated information entered.

Yet another object of the present invention can be achieved by a systemfor purchasing a personal recording media, comprising:

a first station, including

a first entering unit for entering identification information in orderto identify a customer;

a second entering unit for entering at least one designated informationby the customer when the customer is identified as an authorizedcustomer;

a first information storing unit for storing a plurality of information;

a information recording unit for recording information associated withthe designated information by retrieving the plurality of information ofthe first information storing unit based on the designated informationentered from the second entering unit;

a second station, including

a unit connected to the first station for identifying whether or not thecustomer is an authorized customer based on the identificationinformation entered by the first entering unit;

a second information storing unit for storing a plurality of informationcorresponding to the plurality of information stored in the firststoring unit;

a unit for implementing a predetermined accounting process regarding therecording media into which the information has been recorded;

a third station, connected to the first station and the second station,respectively, including a latest information storing unit for storingthe latest information,

wherein, the first station and the second station update the pluralityof information stored in the first information storing unit and thesecond information storing unit, respectively, based on the latestinformation stored in the latest information storing unit,

wherein the customer can purchase the recording media at the firststation in such a manner that the recording media consisting of anarbitrary number of the information is produced at the first stationbased on the designated information entered by the customer at the firststation.

Preferably, the plurality of information stored in the first informationstoring unit and the plurality of information stored in the secondinformation storing unit are musical composition information whichincludes information concerning a musical composition list, a musicalcomposition data, an index and a copyright.

Still another object of the present invention can be achieved by asystem for purchasing a personal recording media, comprising:

a first station, including

a first entering unit for entering identification information in orderto identify a customer;

a second entering unit for entering at least one designated informationby the customer when the customer is identified as an authorizedcustomer;

a second station, including

a unit connected to the first station for identifying whether or not thecustomer is an authorized customer based on the identificationinformation entered by the first entering unit;

an information storing unit for storing a plurality of information;

a unit for reading the information associated with the designatedinformation by retrieving the plurality of information in theinformation storing unit based on the designated information enteredfrom the second entering unit;

information recording unit connected to the information reading unit forrecording the information read from the information storing unit into apredetermined recording media;

a unit for implementing a predetermined accounting process regarding therecording media into which the information has been recorded;

a third station, connected to the first station and the second station,respectively, including a latest information storing unit for storingthe latest information,

wherein, the first station and the second station update the pluralityof information stored in the information storing unit in the secondstation based on the latest information stored in the latest informationstoring unit, as necessary,

wherein the customer can purchase the recording media at the firststation in such a manner that the recording media consisting of anarbitrary number of the information is produced at the second station,based on the designated information entered by the customer at the firststation, and then the produced recording media is delivered to the firststation.

It is preferable that the first station further include

a unit for storing specific information consisting of a part of theplurality of information stored in the information storing unit at thesecond station; and

a unit for retrieving the specific information storing unit based on thedesignated information entered from the second entering unit by thecustomer and for displaying, to the customer, the specific informationassociated with the designated information entered.

The information storing unit is preferably a musical compositioninformation storing unit, and the plurality of information storedtherein are a plurality of musical composition information whichincludes information concerning a musical composition list, a musicalcomposition data, an index and a copyright.

The musical composition information storing unit is preferably adatabase having an accumulatable specification which unifies the music,and is constituted by digitizing and unifying a sound source, MIDI data,music score data, and right attribution data.

Further preferably, the musical composition information storing unitincludes five categories of a music attribution, an original disc right,a copyright, a music score, and a sound source.

More preferably, the information storing unit is a video informationstoring unit, and the plurality of information are a plurality of videoinformation which includes information regarding video data, sound data,an index, and a copyright.

It is preferable that the information storing unit is a program storingunit, and the plurality of information are a plurality of programinformation which includes information regarding a plurality ofprograms, an index, and a copyright.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a method ofpurchasing a personal recording media, with which a customer canpurchase the recording media composed of an arbitrary number of desiredinformation, comprising the steps of:

entering identification information in order to identify a customer;

identifying whether or not the customer is an authorized customer basedon the entered identification information;

entering at least one designated piece of information by the customerwhen the customer is identified as an authorized customer in accordancewith a result of the identifying;

reading information associated with the designated information byretrieving a database which includes a plurality of information based onthe designated information entered;

storing the read information into a predetermined recording media; and

implementing a predetermined accounting process regarding the recordingmedia into which the information is recorded.

Preferably, the plurality of information is the musical compositioninformation which includes information concerning a musical compositionlist, musical composition data, an index and a copyright.

Further preferably, the plurality of information is a plurality of videoinformation which includes information regarding video data, sound data,an index, and a copyright.

More preferably, the plurality of information is a plurality of programinformation which includes information regarding a plurality of softwareprograms, an index, and a copyright.

Further objects of the present invention can be achieved by a recordingmedia having a program for purchasing a personal recording media, withwhich a customer can purchase the recording media composed of anarbitrary number of desired information, the program comprising thesteps of:

entering identification information in order to identify a customer;

identifying whether or not the customer is an authorized customer basedon the entered identification information;

entering at least one piece of designated information by the customerwhen the customer is identified as an authorized customer in accordancewith a result of the identifying;

reading information associated with the designated information byretrieving a database which includes a plurality of information based onthe designated information entered;

storing the read information into a predetermined recording media; and

implementing a predetermined accounting process regarding the recordingmedia into which the information is recorded.

Preferably, the plurality of information is the musical compositioninformation which includes information concerning a musical compositionlist, musical composition data, an index and a copyright.

Further preferably, the plurality of information is a plurality of videoinformation which includes information regarding video data, sound data,an index, and a copyright.

More preferably, the plurality of information is a plurality of programinformation which includes information regarding a plurality of softwareprograms, an index, and a copyright.

The video data is preferably motion picture data, television programdata or a commercial program data.

The plurality of information is preferably a plurality of imageinformation which includes information regarding a graphic data, a sounddata, an index, and a copyright.

More preferably, the video information storing unit is a DigitalVersatile Disc (DVD) or a video cassette tape (VCT).

The system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention is capable of arbitrarily selecting or designating thecustomer's favorite musicians or artists, arbitrarily selecting ordesignating the musical compositions by the selected musicians orartists, and purchasing a personally original compilation recordingmedia composed of the selected or designated musical compositions.

Furthermore, the system for purchasing a personal recording mediaaccording to the present invention is capable of automaticallycollecting the royalty for the copyrights and the like regarding themusical compositions incorporated into the recording media at a timewhen a customer purchases a personally original compilation recordingmedia, and is also capable of implementing the return and the likeconcerning the use of the musical compositions for the copyright holdersand the like.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by a system forgranting access at least one content in a library of contents, thesystem including:

a) a memory for storing the library of contents;

b) a data input device for entering a set of information attributes forthe contents stored in the memory and for entering an identification ofa user using the system;

c) a data retriever for retrieving a particular content in the libraryof contents in accordance with said entered information attributes, ifthe user is permitted to access said particular content in accordancewith the entered identification;

d) an output device for providing said retrieved content to the user;and

e) a collecting/updating device for collecting/updating the contents ofthe library of contents.

Preferably, the library of contents includes contents that can be put toa practical use as a database by periodically collecting/updating, usingthe collecting/updating device.

More preferably, the library of contents is a library of music andrelated information thereof, a library of printed matters, includingbooks, magazines, newspapers or any type of journals, a library ofbroadcasting information to be used in the broadcasting industries,including a TV station, a radio station and a satellite station, alibrary of software programs, including video game software programsand/or any kinds of software programs, and/or a library of motionpictures and/or still pictures.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system forgranting access to selected of a library of multimedia, including:

a) a memory for storing the library of multimedia;

b) a data input device for entering a set of information attributes forthe multimedia stored in the memory;

c) a data retriever for retrieving information about a particular mediumof the library in accordance with the entered attribute; and

d) an output device for providing the retrieved information.

Preferably, the library of multimedia is a library of music, a libraryof printed matter, including books, magazines, newspapers and any typeof journals, and/or a library of broadcasting information to be used inthe broadcasting industries, including a TV station, a radio station anda satellite station.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system foraccessing information related to a musical composition, including:

a) a data input device operable by a user for entering information as tothe class of the current user and a candidate musical composition to beaccessed;

b) a memory for storing a library of the musical compositions and a setof information items related to at least selected of the stored musicalcompositions;

c) a display for displaying to the current user selected informationrelated to the candidate musical composition;

d) a processor coupled to the data input device and the memory forperforming the following operations on the candidate musical compositionrelated information:

-   -   1) evaluating the class of the current user and the candidate        musical composition and, dependent thereon, displaying on the        display those information items corresponding to the entered        class of the current user from the particular set of information        items of the entered candidate musical composition,    -   2) permitting the current user to select at least one of the        displayed information items for further processing, and    -   3) further processing the selected information items.

Preferably, the information items stored in the memory includesintellectual property rights and the further processing calculates thefees due in relation to the entered candidate musical composition andthe entered user class.

More preferably, the information items stored in the memory includespermission to access information, and the further processing determinesbased upon the permission to access information and the user classwhich, if any, information pertaining to the selected candidate musicalcomposition will be accessible to the current user.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by a method ofpermitting access by a plurality of class of users to an informationsystem to select and obtain permission to access a particular musicalcomposition from a library of musical compositions for a particular oneof a plurality of uses, the information system storing information as tothe identity of, the accessible rights to each musical composition inthe library, license fees associated with each of the rights, and theclaimants of each of the rights, includes the steps of:

a) permitting a user to activate the information system by inputting anindication of at least the class of the current user and the identity ofa candidate musical composition;

b) identifying from the user input the class of the current user;

c) retrieving from the information system dependent on the identifiedclass of the current user and the candidate musical composition theavailability of the musical composition in the information system and aset of potentially permitted uses selected according to the identifiedclass;

d) displaying to the user an indication of whether or not the musicalcomposition is available in the information system and, if available,the selected set of potentially permitted uses of the availablecandidate musical composition;

e) permitting the user to select a particular use from the displayed setof uses;

f) accessing from the information system whether or not the selected useis permitted for the identified candidate musical composition and, ifthe selected use is permitted, retrieving from the information systemdependent on the selected use information as to the license fee andclaimant related to the selected use; and

g) processing the license fee with respect to the selected claimant.

Preferably, the identified use as determined in step (b) is claimant,permitting the claimant to alter the license fee information, andprocessing the altered information to update the content of theinformation system.

More preferably, there is further included the steps of displaying tothe current user the altered information, and permitting the claimant toconfirm whether or not the altered information is appropriate and, ifappropriate, terminating the processing step (g).

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system forpurchasing a personal recording media, including:

a) a first station for converting at least one musical composition and amusical information corresponding to the one musical composition topredetermined signals, respectively, and for transmitting the signals;

b) a card-type storage medium including a storage device and anintegrated circuit;

c) a receiving device capable of attaching/detaching the card-typestorage medium, and of listening to a musical composition by receivingsaid signal transmitted from the first station, and of selectivelystoring the musical information corresponding to the musical compositionbeing transmitted into the storage device of the card-type storagemedium by a predetermined operation when the card-type storage medium isattached thereto;

d) a second station including an entering device capable ofattaching/detaching the card-type storage medium into which the musicalinformation is stored, and of reading an identification informationstored in the storage device of the card-type storage medium when thecard-type storage is attached thereto, and of reading the musicalinformation stored in the storage device of the card-type storagemedium;

e) a third station connected to the second station and capable of;

-   -   1) identifying whether or not a user of the system is an        authorized user based on the identification information,    -   2) reading the musical composition information associated with        the musical information by retrieving the plurality of musical        composition information in the musical composition information        storage means based on the musical information entered with the        entering means,    -   3) recording the musical composition information read from the        musical composition information storage means into a        predetermined recording medium, and    -   4) implementing a predetermined accounting process based on an        accounting information stored in the card-type storage medium,        regarding the recording medium into which the musical        composition information is recorded,

wherein a musical information corresponding to the musical compositionis stored into the card-type storage medium by a predetermined operationwhen a user is listening a musical composition being transmitted fromthe first station, and

the user can purchase the recording medium into which at least onedesired musical composition is recorded, by inserting the card-typestorage medium of which the musical information is stored therein into apredetermined entering means at the second station.

Preferably, the third station includes:

1) an identification means for identifying whether or not the user is anauthorized user based on the identification information entered with theentering means of the second station;

2) a musical composition information storage means for storing aplurality of musical composition information;

3) a musical composition information reading means for reading themusical composition information associated with the musical informationby retrieving the plurality of musical composition information in themusical composition information storage means based on the musicalinformation entered with the entering means;

4) a musical information recording means connected to the musicalcomposition information reading means, for recording the musicalcomposition information read from the musical composition informationstorage means into a predetermined recording medium; and

5) means for implementing a predetermined accounting process based onaccounting information stored in the cart-type storage medium regardingthe recording medium into which the musical composition information isrecorded.

More preferably, the system of the present invention further includes:

f) a copyright-associated information storage means for storinginformation associated with a copyright;

g) an input/output means for inputting/outputting the musicalcomposition information;

h) a musical composition information registration means for registeringand storing the musical composition information inputted with theinput/output means into the musical composition information storagemeans;

i) a copyright-associated information retrieval and discrimination meansfor retrieving and discriminating a copyright-associated informationregarding the musical composition information registered in the musicalcomposition information registration means from the copyright-associatedinformation storage means based on a musical composition to be used;

j) an account and royalty determination means for determining an accountfor a user of the musical composition and for determining a royalty fora copyright owner of the musical composition based on thecopyright-associated information and the accounting informationdiscriminated by the copyright-associated information retrieval anddiscrimination means; and

k) means for informing the account determined by the account and royaltydetermination means to the user of the musical composition, and forinforming the royalty determined by the account and royaltydetermination means to the copyright owner of the musical composition.

Preferably, the system of the present invention further includes:

l) a usage purpose registration means for registering an informationregarding a usage purpose of the musical composition to be used; and

m) an account information alteration means for altering the accountinformation based on information regarding the usage purpose of musicalcomposition registered with the usage purpose registration means.

More preferably, the system of the present invention further includes:

n) a copyright-associated information alteration means connected to theentering means and to the copyright-associated information storagemeans, for altering the copyright-associated information based on theinformation of musical composition to be used.

The card-type storage medium including a storage device and anintegrated circuit is preferably a smart card. The receiving device ispreferably a smart card radio receiver.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by a system foraccessing information related to a musical composition, including:

a) a data input device operable by a user for entering an indication asto the current user and a candidate musical composition to be accessed;

b) a memory for storing a library of the musical compositions and a setof information items related to at least selected of the stored musicalcompositions, wherein the set of information items includes a set ofpermitted uses for each of the stored musical compositions;

c) a display for displaying to the current user selected informationrelated to the candidate musical composition;

d) a processor coupled to the data input device and the memory forperforming the following operations relating to the candidate musicalcomposition related information:

-   -   1) evaluating the current user indication and the candidate        musical composition and displaying on the display those        information items including at least the permitted uses from the        particular set of information items of the entered candidate        musical composition,    -   2) permitting the current user to select at least one of the        displayed information items for further processing and to input        one or more of the current user's desired uses of the musical        composition, and    -   3) further processing the selected information items.

Preferably, the set of permitted uses stored in the memory includespermission to access information related to selective ones of the set ofpossible uses of the musical composition information, and the furtherprocessing determines based upon the permission to access informationand the user's desired use selection which information, if any,pertaining to the selected candidate musical composition will beaccessible to the current user.

More preferably, the set of possible uses of the musical compositioninformation includes play, copy, transmit, and distribute, whereinpossible forms of transmit include surface, cable, internet orsatellite, and wherein possible forms of medium for copy include stream,local-HDD, flash memory, stick memory or MD.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a method ofpermitting access by a plurality of users to an information system toselect and obtain permission to access a particular musical compositionfrom a library musical compositions for a particular one of a pluralityof possible uses, the information system storing information as to theidentity of and the accessible rights to each musical composition in thelibrary, a set of permitted potential uses and license fees associatedwith each of the rights, and the claimants of each of the rights,includes the steps of:

a) permitting a user to activate the information system by inputting anindication of the current user and the identity of a candidate musicalcomposition;

b) retrieving from the information system at least the candidate musicalcomposition and the set of permitted potential uses associated with eachaccessible right to the selected musical composition;

c) displaying to the user an indication of whether or not the musicalcomposition is available in the information system and, if available,the set of permitted potential uses of the available candidate musicalcomposition;

d) permitting the user to input one or more of the user's desired uses;

e) accessing from the information system whether or not each of theuser's inputted desired uses is permitted for said identified candidatemusical composition and, if one or more of said desired uses ispermitted, retrieving from the information system, dependent on theselected desired use, information as to the license fee and claimantrelated to the selected desired use; and

f) processing the license fee with respect to the selected claimant.

Preferably, the step of permitting the user to activate includesallowing the user to input the one or more desired use selections onlyfrom among the displayed set of permitted potential uses of theavailable candidate musical composition.

More preferably, the set of permitted potential uses of the musicalcomposition information includes play, copy, transmit and distribute,wherein possible forms of transmit include surface, cable, internet orsatellite, and possible forms of medium for copy include stream,local-HDD, flash memory, stick memory or MD.

Further preferably, the method of permitting access of the presentinvention further includes the step of granting the user access to themusical composition information only for the one or more of the inputteddesired uses that is permitted for that musical composition.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system forgranting access to selected of a library of multimedia, including:

a) a memory for storing the library of multimedia;

b) a data input device for entering a set of attributes for themultimedia stored in the memory;

c) a data retriever for retrieving information about a particular mediumof the library in accordance with the entered set of attributes;

d) an update device for updating the retrieved information about theparticular medium of the library, if necessary; and

e) an output device for providing the retrieved information or theupdated information.

Preferably, the update device is only operable by at least one claimantof each of the rights associated with the particular medium of thelibrary.

More preferably, the system for granting access of the present inventionfurther includes:

f) an interactive device for interacting a user of the system with atleast one claimant of each of the rights associated with the particularmedium of the library,

wherein the update device updates the retrieved information inaccordance with a result of an interaction of the user and the claimantor claimants, and the output device provides the updated information.

More preferably, the library of multimedia includes at least one of alibrary of music, a library of printed matter, and a library ofbroadcasting information to be used in the broadcasting industries.Further preferably, the printed matter includes books, magazines,newspapers and any types of journals, and wherein the broadcastingindustries include a TV station, a radio station and a satellitestation.

Another object of the present invention can be achieved by a system foraccessing information related to a musical composition, including:

a) a data input device operable by a user for entering information as toa class of the current user and a candidate musical composition to beaccessed;

b) a memory for storing a library of the musical compositions and a setof information items related to at least selected of the stored musicalcompositions, the set of information items stored in the memoryincluding at least intellectual property rights information andpermission to access information;

c) a display device for displaying to the current user selectedinformation related to the candidate musical composition;

d) a processor coupled to the data input device and the memory forperforming the following operations on the selected information relatedto the candidate musical composition:

-   -   1) evaluating the class of the current user and the candidate        musical composition and, dependent thereon, displaying on the        display device the information items corresponding to the        entered class of the current user from the particular set of        information items of the entered candidate musical composition,    -   2) permitting the current user to select at least one of the        displayed information items for further processing, and    -   3) further processing the selected information items to        calculate the fees due in relation to the entered candidate        musical composition and the entered user class, and to        determine, based upon the permission to access information and        the user class, which information, if any, pertaining to the        selected candidate musical composition will be accessible to the        current user, and

e) an update device for updating the set of information items stored inthe memory, if necessary, the update device being only operable by aclaimant or claimants of each of the intellectual property rightsassociated with the selected of the stored musical compositions.

Preferably, the system for accessing information related to a musicalcomposition of the present invention further includes

f) an interactive device for interacting a user of the system with atleast one claimant of each of the intellectual property rightsassociated with the selected of the stored musical compositions, and

wherein the update device updates the set of information items stored inthe memory in accordance with a result of an interaction of the user andthe claimant or claimants.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by a method ofpermitting access by a plurality of class of users to an informationsystem to select and obtain permission to access a particular musicalcomposition from a library of musical compositions for a particular oneof a plurality of uses, the information system storing information as tothe identity of each musical composition in the library, the accessiblerights to each musical composition in the library, license feesassociated with each of the rights, and the claimants of each of therights, including the steps of:

a) permitting a user to activate the information system by inputting anindication of at least a class of a current user and an identity of acandidate musical composition;

b) identifying the class of the current user from the inputtedindication and identifying the candidate musical composition from theinputted identity;

c) retrieving from the information system an availability of theidentified candidate musical composition in the information system and aset of potentially permitted uses of the identified candidate musicalcomposition in accordance with the identified class of the current user,

d) displaying to the current user an indication of whether or not theidentified candidate musical composition is available in the informationsystem and, if available, displaying to the current user the selectedset of potentially permitted uses of the candidate musical composition;

e) permitting the current user to select a particular use from theselected set of potentially permitted uses displayed;

f) accessing from the information system whether or not the selectedparticular use is permitted for the identified candidate musicalcomposition;

g) if the selected particular use is permitted, retrieving informationof a license fee and at least one claimant regarding the identifiedcandidate musical composition from the information system in accordancewith the selected particular use, and

h) processing the license fee with respect to the claimant or claimantsregarding the identified candidate musical composition,

i) permitting the alteration of the information of the license fee andthe selected set of potentially permitted uses of the identifiedcandidate musical composition when the identified current user asdetermined in the step (b) is the at least one claimant regarding theidentified candidate musical composition;

j) processing the altered information to update the content of theinformation system; and

k) displaying to the current user the altered information, andpermitting at least one claimant to confirm whether or not the alteredinformation is appropriate and, if appropriate, terminating theprocessing in the step (g).

The above described object of the present invention can be achieved by asystem for purchasing a personal recording media, including:

a) a first station for converting at least one musical composition and amusical information corresponding to the one musical composition topredetermined signals, respectively, and for transmitting the signals;

b) a card-type storage medium including a storage device and anintegrated circuit;

c) a receiving device capable of attaching/detaching the card-typestorage medium, and of listening to a musical composition by receivingthe signals transmitted from the first station, and of selectivelystoring the musical information corresponding to the musical compositionbeing transmitted into the storage device of the card-type storagemedium by predetermined operation when the card-type storage medium isattached thereto;

d) a second station including an entering device capable ofattaching/detaching the card-type storage medium into which the musicalinformation is stored, and of reading an identification informationstored in the storage device of the card-type storage medium when thecard-type storage is attached thereto, and of reading the musicalinformation stored in the storage device of the card-type storagemedium;

e) a third station connected to the second station and capable of:

-   -   1) identifying whether or not a user of the system is an        authorized user based on the identification information,    -   2) reading the musical composition information associated with        the musical information by retrieving the plurality of musical        composition information in the musical composition information        storage means based on the musical information entered with the        entering means,    -   3) recording the musical composition information read from the        musical composition information storage means into a        predetermined recording medium, and    -   4) implementing a predetermined accounting process based on an        accounting information stored in the card-type storage medium,        in regard with the recording medium into which the musical        composition information is recorded,

f) a copyright-associated information storage means for storing acopyright-associated information regarding the musical compositioninformation;

g) an input/output means for inputting/outputting the musicalcomposition information;

h) a musical composition information registration means for registeringand storing the musical composition information inputted with theinput/output means into the musical composition information storagemeans;

i) a copyright-associated information retrieval and discrimination meansfor retrieving and discriminating a copyright-associated informationregarding the musical composition information registered in the musicalcomposition information registration means from the copyright-associatedinformation storage means based on a musical composition to be used;

j) an account and royalty determination means for determining an accountfor a user of the musical composition and for determining a royalty fora copyright claimant of the musical composition based on thecopyright-associated information and the accounting informationdiscriminated by the copyright-associated information retrieval anddiscrimination means;

k) means for informing the account determined by the account and royaltydetermination means to the user of the musical composition;

l) means for informing the royalty determined by the account and royaltydetermination means to the copyright claimant of the musicalcomposition;

m) a usage purpose registration means for registering informationregarding a usage purpose of the musical composition to be used;

n) an account information alteration means for altering the accountinformation based on an information regarding the usage purpose ofmusical composition registered with the usage purpose registrationmeans; and

o) a copyright-associated information alteration means connected to theentering means and to the copyright-associated information storagemeans, for altering the copyright-associated information based on theinformation of musical composition to be used, wherein musicalinformation corresponding to the musical composition is stored into thecard-type storage medium by a predetermined operation when user islistening to a musical composition being transmitted from the firststation,

wherein the user can purchase the recording medium into which at leastone desired musical composition is recorded, by inserting the card-typestorage medium of which the musical information is stored therein into apredetermined entering means at the second station, and

wherein the copyright-associated information alteration means is onlyoperable by a rightful claimant or claimants when altering thecopyright-associated information.

Preferably, the third station includes:

1) an identification means for identifying whether or not the user is anauthorized user based on the identification information entered with theentering means of the second station;

2) a musical composition information storage means for storing aplurality of musical composition information;

3) a musical composition information reading means for reading themusical composition information associated with the musical informationby retrieving the plurality of musical composition information in themusical composition information storage means based on the musicalinformation entered with the entering means;

4) a musical information recording means connected to the musicalcomposition information reading means, for recording the musicalcomposition information read from the musical composition informationstorage means into a predetermined recording medium; and

5) means for implementing a predetermined accounting process based onaccounting information stored in the cart-type storage medium regardingthe recording medium into which the musical composition information isrecorded.

More preferably, the card-type storage medium is a smart card. Furtherpreferably, the receiving device is a smart card radio receiver.

The above-mentioned object of the present invention can be achieved by asystem for granting permission of a user's personal information to athird party, which includes:

a terminal means for entering a personal information of a user and apermission information indicating at least one permissible use of thepersonal information of the user by a third party, for storing thepersonal information and the permission information entered, forreceiving from the third party an item in accordance with the permissioninformation stored therein from the third party; and

an information management means electrically connected to the terminalmeans for managing the personal information and the permissioninformation stored in the terminal means, for evaluating the personalinformation stored therein in accordance with the permission informationstored therein if an access to the personal information is requestedfrom the third party, and for providing to the third party the requestedpersonal information if the access to the requested personal informationis permissible in accordance with a result of the evaluation.

Preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user's personalinformation to a third party, the terminal means includes:

a) a data input device operable by the user for entering the personalinformation of the user and the permission information indicating atleast one permissible use of the personal information by the thirdparty;

b) a memory electrically connected to the data input device for storingthe personal information and the permission information entered from thedata input device; and

c) a receiving device for receiving from the third party an item inaccordance with the permission information stored in the memory as aconsequence of permitting said access to the personal informationrequested from the third party.

More preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, the item is an advertisementand/or the latest information of a product and/or a service pertinent tothe personal information of the user.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the terminal means further includes

d) an interactive device for interacting the user with the third partyassociated with the advertisement and/or the latest information,

wherein the interactive device is operable by the user for ordering theproduct and/or the service to the third party, preferably.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the terminal means further includes

e) a display device electrically connected to both the data input deviceand the receiving device for displaying the information entered from thedata input device, the advertisement and/or the latest informationreceived by the receiving device.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the receiving device is further capable of listeningto a musical composition by receiving signals transmitted from abroadcasting station,

wherein the broadcasting station is configured to convert at least onemusical composition and musical information associated with the musicalcomposition to corresponding signals, respectively and for transmittingthe signals.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the receiving device is further capable of selectivelystoring a musical information associated with the musical compositionbeing transmitted from the broadcasting station into the memory by apredetermined operation.

Preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user's personalinformation to a third party, the receiving device is further capable ofreceiving a content selected by the user from a library of multimedia.

More preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, the library of multimedia is anyone of or a combination of two or more of:

a) a library of music;

b) a library of printed matters, the printed matter including books,magazines, newspapers, any types of journals;

c) a library of computer programming codes, the computer programmingcodes including open source codes and/or closed source codes to be usedfor producing a computer program;

d) a library of movies; and

e) a library of animations.

Further preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, the interactive device is furthercapable of interacting the user with the third party associated with thecontent selected by the user from the library of multimedia.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the display device is further capable of displayingthe content received by the receiving device.

The above-mentioned object of the present invention can be achieved by asystem for granting permission of a user's personal information to athird party, the information management means includes:

a) a request receiving device for receiving from the third party arequest of accessing to the personal information stored in the memory;

b) an evaluation device for evaluating whether or not the request ofaccessing to the personal information from the third party ispermissible in accordance with the permission information stored in thememory;

c) an output device for providing to the third party the requestedpersonal information in accordance with the result of the evaluationperformed by the evaluation device; and

d) an update device for updating the permission information stored inthe memory if it is desirable by the user.

Preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user's personalinformation to a third party, the update device is also capable ofupdating the personal information stored in the memory if it isdesirable by the user. More preferably, in the system for grantingpermission of a user's personal information to a third party, the updatedevice is configured to be only operable by the user.

The system for granting permission of a user's personal information to athird party further includes:

a sub-system for granting access to selected of the library ofmultimedia, including:

-   -   a) a memory for storing the library of multimedia and content        permission information associated with each content in the        library of multimedia;    -   b) a data input device for entering a set of attributes for the        multimedia stored in the memory;    -   c) a data retriever for retrieving information about a        particular medium of the library in accordance with the entered        set of attributes;    -   d) an update device for updating the retrieved information about        the particular medium of the library, if necessary; and    -   e) an output device for providing the retrieved information or        the updated information if it were updated in accordance with        the content permission information.

Preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user's personalinformation to a third party, the update device in the sub-system iscapable of updating the content permission information stored in thememory.

More preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, the update device in thesub-system is configured to be only operable by at least one claimant ofeach of rights associated with a particular content of the library ofmultimedia.

Further preferably, in the system for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, the library is any one of or acombination of two or more of:

a) a library of music;

b) a library of printed matters, the printed matter including books,magazines, newspapers, any types of journals;

c) a library of computer programming codes, the computer programmingcodes including open source codes and/or closed source codes to be usedfor producing a computer program;

d) a library of movies; and

e) a library of animations.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the personal information includes:

a) fixed personal information, the fixed personal information includinga name, a date of birth, and a gender of the user; and

b) variable personal information, the variable personal informationincluding an age, an occupation, a status of marriage, a dependent (ifapplicable), an annual income, and a preference of the user.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the personal information further includes

c) dynamically generated personal usage information including bothgranular and aggregated service usage activity data generated by theuser through interaction with systems and services.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the permission information is a Privacy InformationUse Permission (PIUP), wherein the PIUP includes:

a) permitted privacy information described with privacy informationidentification (ID);

b) permitted relations described with a user ID and a trader ID; and

c) permitted conditions described with user permission codes.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the content permission information according to thepresent invention is Content Use Permission (CUP), wherein the CUPincludes:

a) permitted content described with content identification (ID);

b) permitted relation described with right holder ID, trader ID andconsumer ID; and

c) permitted conditions described with content permission codes.

The permitted conditions according to the present invention includeintellectual property rights associated with the permitted content.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the system is configure in any form of a mobile phone,a PDA, a notebook type computer, or a desktop type computer.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the terminal means is a mobile phone, and theinformation management means is a control processor installed in themobile phone.

In the system for granting permission of a user's personal informationto a third party, the terminal means is a mobile phone, the informationmanagement means is a control processor installed in the mobile phone,and the subsystem is a content management device.

The above mentioned features of the system according to the presentinvention could be also equally applicable to the method and the mediaaccording to the present invention as well.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent uponconsideration of the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the systemfor purchasing a personal recording media according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of one portion of the operation of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one example of the specification of themusic database which is one of the main components of the system forpurchasing a personal recording media according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing one example of the index database whichcomposes one portion of the music database of the system for purchasinga personal recording media shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of the index database whichcomposes one portion of the music database of the system for purchasinga personal recording media shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the systemfor purchasing a personal recording media according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the systemfor purchasing a personal recording media according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 18 is an illustrative diagram of one portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the systemfor purchasing a personal recording media according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 22 is an illustrative diagram of one portion of the operation ofthe system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 24 is an illustrative diagram of another portion of the operationof the system for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the fifth embodiment of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 26 to 32 are illustrative diagrams showing an operation of thefifth embodiment shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing one example of the configurations of themain parts of the server-client system shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram showing a sixth embodiment of thepurchasing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the music databaseaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a display menu on the display monitor ofthe system shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing three different kinds of initial menu thatare displayed on the display screen;

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing one example of the content of thePermission File to be used for the system of the present system;

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing one example of the content of the ChargingRate & Fee File to be used for the system of the present system;

FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall processes usingthe “Permission File” shown in FIG. 38 and the “Charging Rate & FeeFile” shown in FIG. 39 according to the present invention;

FIGS. 41 a, 41 b, and 41 c are a diagram illustrating the processesshown in FIG. 40;

FIG. 42 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of a system forgranting permission of user's personal information to a third partyaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 43 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed structure of theterminal device shown in FIG. 42;

FIG. 44 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed structure of theinformation management device shown in FIG. 42;

FIG. 45 is a schematic diagram showing a system for granting access toselected of the library of multimedia according to the presentinvention; and

FIG. 46 is a schematic diagram showing a library of multimedia accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 47 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 48A, 48B, 48C and 48D, each of Figures is a diagram illustratingthe processes performed by the system shown in FIG. 62.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, referring to the accompanying drawings, the preferredembodiments of the system for purchasing a personal recording mediaaccording to the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the systemfor purchasing a personal recording media (hereinafter referred to as “apurchasing system”) according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are composed of a store 10, that is a KIOSK such as aconvenience store or a gasoline station and the like which will beeasily accessed by a customer, and a backchannel company 20. Store 10 isconnected with backchannel company 20 using an internet or a privateline (leased line) 40. The store 10 includes a MD production applicationaccepting system 11 (hereinafter referred to as the “AAS”) which iscomposed of a monitor, a card reader, and a databaseretrieval/application terminal (not shown), a musical compositiondatabase 12 connected to the AAS 11, a store equipment managing system13 connected to both the AAS 11 and the musical composition database 12,and a communication system 14 connected to the store equipment managingsystem 13.

The backchannel company 20 includes a communication system 21 connectedto the communication system 14 of the store 10 via a telephone or aninternet line 40 and the like; a server-client system (hereinafterreferred to as the “host-computer”) 22 connected to the communicationsystem 21; a music database 27 connected to the host-computer 22 andincluding a musical composition list database 23, a musical compositiondata database 24, an index database 25 as well as a copyright database26; a MD writer 28 connected to the music database 27; a printer 29connected to the music database 27; and a company side database 32connected to the host-computer 22 and including a customer database 30as well as an accounting approval database 31.

In the following, by referring to FIGS. 2 to 9, an operation of thepurchasing system shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

1-1. Membership Recognition Step

As shown in FIG. 2, at first, a switch of the purchasing system isturned on by touching a “START” entry display on a screen of a touchsensor type monitor (hereinafter referred to as the “monitor”) in theAAS 11. A word “WELCOME” is displayed on the monitor screen, and thenwords “PLEASE INSERT A CARD” are displayed on the screen.

When the customer is a registered member of the purchasing system,he/she should insert his/her member card into the card reader of the AAS11. Further, when the customer is a non-registered member, he/she shouldapply for a membership registration at the store and purchase a newmember card, and then insert the purchased member card into the cardreader. Herein, the purchasing system can be constituted as having a newmembership card manufacturing function such that a new member card canbe automatically manufactured based on anything which can verify thecustomer's identification, such as the customer's driver's license orbank card.

After the card reader has read the member card, the words “PLEASE ENTERYOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER” are displayed on the monitor.According to the display thereof, the customer will enter a personalidentification number (hereinafter referred to as the “PIN”) unique foreach member. The entry of the PIN can be implemented by touching thealphanumeric characters displayed on the monitor screen. The informationof the entered PIN and the information of the member registration numberof the member card, which has been read in advance by the card reader,are transmitted from the communication system 14 via the telephone line40 to the host-computer 22 through the communication system 21 of thebackchannel company 20.

In the backchannel company 20, the host-computer 22 searches thecustomer managing database 30 of the company side database 32 based onthe information of the PIN and the member registration numbertransmitted from the store 10, and matches whether or not the customeris a valid member, and then transmits the information concerning theresult of that match from the communication system 21 via the telephoneline 40 to the AAS 11 through the communication system 14 of the store10. Further, the host-computer 22 will produce a customer code E whenthe customer is a valid member.

The AAS 11 in the store 10 displays the words “OK” on the monitorscreen's display when the customer is a valid member, based on thereceived information concerning the result of the match. On the otherhand, when the customer is an invalid member, then the AAS 11 displaysthe words “INVALID” on the monitor screen's display. In case the wrongPIN was entered during the above mentioned operation, it could beconstituted such that the PIN can be re-entered by displaying the words“INVALID” on the screen, and then displaying the words “PLEASE ENTERYOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AGAIN WITH GREAT CARE” on thescreen.

In this case, in view of security, it could be set such that a limitwould be imposed on the number of times that a PIN can be re-entered.And if the match cannot be made within the defined number of times forthe re-entry, the purchasing system is automatically turned off.

When the word “OK” is displayed on the monitor screen in the abovementioned step, the monitor displays the words “LET'S SELECT THE MUSICALCOMPOSITIONS” on the screen, and then the operation will proceed to themusical composition selection step.

1-2. Musical Composition Selection Step

As shown in FIG. 3A, the musical composition selection items for “thefirst music piece” are displayed on the monitor screen. In these musicalcomposition selection items, the items of (a) the title of a musicalcomposition, (b) the name of an artist, (c) the title of an album, (d)the names of the songwriter/composer, (e) the category, (f) themanufactured date, (g) a portion of the words, (h) a portion of themelody (tune), and (i) the recommended lineup are displayed,respectively.

The customer enters the necessary information by looking at the musicalcomposition selection items displayed on the monitor screen, in order toselect the first music piece. There are various methods of entering thisinformation. For example, the necessary information can be entered byusing the keyboard or can be directly written on the screen by using atouch pen.

The AAS 11 will obtain the necessary information by searching themusical composition list database 12 in the store 10 based on theinformation entered on the monitor screen.

As an example, FIG. 3B shows the monitor screen when the customer hasentered (b) the name of an artist, (g) a portion of the words, and (h) aportion of the melody, respectively.

Herein, it could be constituted such that a voice recognition method canbe adopted for the entry of (h) a portion of the melody, and making arecognition of the melody that the customer is singing using thatrecognition method, and it could be constituted such that the recognizedmelody is further converted to the score corresponding thereto, and thenthe converted score is displayed on the screen of the monitor.

After these entries have been completed, the search is implemented bypushing the “search button” which is displayed on the monitor screen,and then the search result as shown in FIG. 3C is displayed on themonitor screen. That is, as a result of the search, the title of thefirst music piece, “P.S. I LOVE YOU” in this example, as well as itsmusic code “044ESPD382401”, are displayed on the monitor screen, and theselection items “SELECTION BUTTON”, “CANCEL BUTTON”, “END BUTTON” arealso displayed on the monitor screen at the same time.

The customer verifies the first music piece displayed on the monitorscreen, and then touches the “SELECTION BUTTON” if the enteredinformation is confirmed. When the “SELECTION BUTTON” is touched, themusic code is accumulated into a hard disc of the AAS 11, as well as themusical composition selection items for the second music piece aredisplayed on the monitor screen. The musical composition selection forthe second music piece is implemented according to the same procedure.The music codes for the desired musical compositions are accumulatedsequentially by repeating the procedure until the desired number ofmusic pieces is reached.

When all the music piece selections have been completed, the musicalcomposition selection is completed by touching the “END BUTTON”selection item after the validation result of the last music piece hasbeen displayed on the monitor screen.

1-3. Musical Composition Editing Step

By touching “END BUTTON” in the above mentioned step, as shown in FIG.4, after having displayed the words “THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOU HAVESELECTED ARE:”, the musical compositions selected in the above mentionedmusical composition selection step are displayed on the screen.

In this example, the selected musical compositions are displayed on themonitor screen as: 1. I LOVE YOU BEATLES 2. SATISFACTION THE ROLLINGSTONES 3. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS 4. LET IT BE BEATLES 5. LIKE A VIRGINMADONNAand the selection items “SORT”, “DELETE”, “ADD” and “OK” are displayedon the monitor screen at the same time.1-3.1. Sorting of Musical Compositions

In the following, the sorting procedures of the orders for the selectedmusical compositions will be described.

By touching the item “SORT” on the monitor screen, as shown below, onthe monitor screen, brackets are displayed on the right side of each ofthe musical compositions, respectively: 1. I LOVE YOU BEATLES [ ] 2.SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES [ ] 3. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS [ ] 4. LETIT BE BEATLES [ ] 5. LIKE A VIRGIN MADONNA [ ]

In this example, because the first and the third musical compositionsare to be sorted, the order of the musical compositions is changed tothe order of 3. 2. 1. 4. 5. by entering the numbers 3, 2, 1, 4, 5 intothe blank squares from the top to the bottom in order. Of course, itcould be constituted such that the order of the musical compositions canbe sorted by using other commonly known methods such as one utilizing acursor.

On the monitor screen, the item “OK” is displayed at the same time, and,by touching “OK” when the desired sorting has been completed, themonitor screen returns to the display of “THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOUHAVE SELECTED ARE:”, and the sort changed musical compositions, such asshown in below, are displayed: 3. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS 2. SATISFACTIONTHE ROLLING STONES 1. I LOVE YOU BEATLES 4. LET IT BE BEATLES 5. LIKE AVIRGIN MADONNA

Then, by touching the item “OK” on the screen, the display of “THEMUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOU HAVE SELECTED ARE:” is so displayed as to berenumbered such as; 1. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS 2. SATISFACTION THE ROLLINGSTONES 3. I LOVE YOU BEATLES 4. LET IT BE BEATLES 5. LIKE A VIRGINMADONNA1-3.2. Deletion of Musical Compositions

Deletion of selected musical compositions can be implemented by touchingthe item “DELETE” on the monitor screen. By touching the item “DELETE”,the character display “PLEASE TOUCH THE MUSICAL COMPOSITION(S) TO BEDELETED” is made, and further the list of the selected musicalcompositions: 1. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS 2. SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES3. I LOVE YOU BEATLES 4. LET IT BE BEATLES 5. LIKE A VIRGIN MADONNAis displayed on the monitor screen, and the selection item “OK” is alsodisplayed at the same time.

Herein, when deleting “2. SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES” in themusical composition list, the part of the musical composition “2.SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES” is removed from the list by touchingthe corresponding musical composition display portion on the monitorscreen, and only that portion is displayed on the new page in the screenof the monitor with the selection item “OK” as:

-   -   WILL BE DELETED    -   2. SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES

Herein, by touching the item “OK”, the monitor screen displays again asshown below by renumbering the musical compositions except the deletedmusical composition: 1. SOME MIGHT SAY OASIS 2. I LOVE YOU BEATLES 3.LET IT BE BEATLES 4. LIKE A VIRGIN MADONNA1-3.3. Addition of Musical Compositions

When newly adding a musical composition, the monitor screen displays thewords “THE MUSICAL COMPOSITION WILL BE ADDED” by touching the selectionitem “ADD”, and returns to the screen of “The Musical CompositionSelection Step” as described above. Then, as described above, a newmusical composition can be added by operating a necessary procedurewhile watching the monitor screen.

“THE GROUP A OF THE MUSIC CODES” corresponding to the edited musicalcompositions are created by touching the item “END BUTTON” on the screenafter having implemented the necessary operations in the above mentionedmusical composition editing step. Also, as described below, the monitorscreen will shift to the next step by touching the item “END BUTTON”.

1.4. Design Step

In this step, the jacket design selection and the album title entry ofthe MD are implemented.

1.4.1. Jacket Design Selection

With a completion of the musical composition editing step as describedin the above step 3, in this example, nine kinds of jacket design aredisplayed on one screen (i.e., one page) of the monitor, as shown inFIG. 5, along with the character display of “PLEASE SELECT THE FAVORITEJACKET”. Jacket designs on other monitor screen pages can be displayedon the monitor screen in such a manner that the jacket designs displayedon the previous page and the next page can be displayed on the monitorscreen by touching the entry displays of “PREVIOUS PAGE” and “NEXT PAGE”on the monitor screen, respectively. Of course, the number of kinds ofthe jacket designs incorporated in one screen (i.e., one page) may beset arbitrarily.

In this example, the design placed on the center of the left side columnshown in FIG. 5 is selected by touching the monitor screen, and then the“JACKET DESIGN CODE B” corresponding to the selected jacket design iscreated by touching the entry display “OK”.

1-4.2. Album Title Entry

After the jacket design selection is completed, the character display of“PLEASE ENTER THE ALBUM TITLE” as well as the items “KEYBOARD ENTRY”,“TOUCHSENSOR ENTRY” are displayed on the monitor screen, as shown inFIG. 6. The customer enters the album title on which he/she has decided,through the keyboard or the touch sensor, after having touched eitherone of the items “KEYBOARD ENTRY” or “TOUCHSENSOR ENTRY”. The monitorscreen sequentially displays the characters of the title of the album tobe entered such as “THE ALBUM TITLE IS “SHOUTA & MAYU”. IS IT OK?”. Theitems “CHANGE” and “OK” are displayed simultaneously when either one ofthe items “KEYBOARD ENTRY” or “TOUCHSENSOR ENTRY” is touched.

The customer implements an entry again with the procedures describedabove, by touching the item “CHANGE”, if he/she desires to change theentered album title, while watching the monitor screen. Further, if theentered album title is all right as it is, then the “ALBUM TITLECHARACTER DATA C” corresponding to the album title being displayed iscreated by touching the item “OK”.

1-5. Final Verification Step

After the above mentioned design step is completed, the verificationitems are displayed on the monitor screen, respectively, as shown inFIG. 7. That is, the contents of the respective items “ALBUM TITLE”,“JACKET” and “SELECTED MUSIC” are displayed again for finalverification. By touching the item “OK” after having completed thisfinal verification, an indication of the cost for the MD which isintended to be produced, for example, as “YOUR COST IS 1,000 YEN”, isdisplayed on the monitor screen.

1-6. Payment Step

Following the above mentioned final verification step, as shown now inFIG. 8, the items “CREDIT CARD”, “PREPAID CARD”, and “BANK WITHDRAWAL”are displayed on the monitor screen, along with the character display of“WHAT IS YOUR PAYMENT METHOD?”. When the customer has selected thepayment method by touching any one of the items on the monitor screen,the character display “PLEASE INSERT THE CARD” is implemented, and thenthe customer will insert the card corresponding to the selected paymentmethod into the card reader. When the card read by the card reader isconfirmed, then the “CARD DATA D” will be produced.

1-7. Transmission Step

After the above mentioned payment step is completed, the “MUSIC CODEGROUP A”, “JACKET DESIGN CODE B”, “ALBUM TITLE CHARACTER DATA C”, “CARDDATA D” and “CUSTOMER CODE E”, which have been produced as describedabove, are transmitted to the host-computer 22 which is provided in thebackchannel company 20, through the communication system 14, thetelephone line 40 and the communication system 21, as shown in FIG. 1.

1-8. Backchannel Company's Work Step (FIGS. 9 and 10)

1-8.1. MD Disc Production Work

After all the above mentioned steps are completed, the production stepof the MD is begun. In the present embodiment, the MD disc productionwork, i.e., the recording, is implemented in the backchannel company 20.

The input information required for the MD production is “MUSIC CODEGROUP A” as mentioned above. Based on MUSIC CODE GROUP A, the musicalcomposition database 24 in the music database 27 is searched, themusical compositions corresponding to the information of the MUSIC CODEGROUP A are selected from the musical composition database 24, and thenthe selected musical compositions are high-speed recorded into the MD bythe MD writer 28.

1-8.2. Jacket Production Work

Further, within the backchannel company 20, based on the “MUSIC CODEGROUP A”, “JACKET DESIGN CODE B” and “ALBUM TITLE CHARACTER DATA C”, thejacket production work (i.e., printing/thermal transfer) is implementedby the printer 29. Herein, at first, based on the “MUSIC CODE GROUP A”,the musical composition list database 23 in the music database 27 issearched, and the attribute of each music is selected from the musicalcomposition list database 23 and the index database 25, and then thatinformation is printed on the predetermined locations of the jacket.Next, based on the “ALBUM TITLE CHARACTER DATA C”, the title being inputis printed on the title location of the jacket. Then, based on the“JACKET DESIGN CODE B”, the selected jacket design is thermallytransferred to the front cover of the jacket.

1-8.3. Accounting Approval

The host-computer 22 retrieves the accounting approval database 31 inthe database 32 on the company side, based on the information of “CARDDATA D” and “CUSTOMER CODE E”, and the necessary information is sentfrom the accounting approval database 31 to the predetermined financialinstitution such as a credit company and the like, and then theaccounting approval of the customer is carried out.

1-8.4. Copyright Process

The host-computer 22 retrieves the musical composition list database 23and the copyright database 26 in the music database 27, based on theinformation of “MUSIC CODE GROUP A”. The copyright process is carriedout by sending the necessary information from the copyright database 26of the music database 27 to the JASRAC, and the original disc process iscarried out by sending the necessary information from the copyrightdatabase 26 of the music database 27 to the recording company and thelike.

1-8.5. Mailing Work

The host-computer 22 retrieves the customer database 30 in the database32 of the company side based on the information of “CUSTOMER CODE E”,prints the address label of the customer from the information of thecustomer's address and the like, and mails the MD to the customer afterhaving completed the predetermined packaging. As a result, the customercould receive the ordered MD.

1-9. Musical Composition Database Update Step

It is very important for the customer to obtain information of newmusical compositions (the musical composition list, the musicalcomposition data, the index data, and the like). This information isalways updated in the backchannel company 20, and new versions of themusical composition list, musical composition data and index informationare stored in the musical composition list database 23, the musicalcomposition data database 24 and the index database 25 of the musicdatabase 27, respectively. However, in this embodiment, among thisinformation, only the musical composition list is sent to thecommunication system 14 in the store 10 through the host-computer 22 andthe communication system 21, and then is stored in the musicalcomposition database 12 in the store 10 through the store equipmentmanaging system 13.

In the following, the music database used for the personal musicalcomposition recording media purchasing system according to the presentinvention, as described above, will be illustrated in detail.

A specification of the music database according to the presentinvention, which will be described below, is revealed for the first timein the art. The specification includes an accumulatable databasespecification in which music is unified, and the music database isconstituted in such a manner that the sound source, the MIDI data, themusic score data, and the right attribution data are digitized and thenunified. Then, the music database is designed in such a manner that themusic is unification-coded and is also enabled to cope with the futuremarket of the music.

FIG. 11 shows one embodiment of the music database which is constitutedas described above. This music database includes five categories of (1)the music attribution, (2) the original disc right, (3) the copyright,(4) the music score, and (5) the sound source. Then, each categoryfurther includes the information regarding the items described below:

(1) Music Attribution

-   -   (1)-1 music code (country code+work code)    -   (1)-2 name of musical composition    -   (1)-3 minutes for musical composition    -   (1)-4 name of artist(s)    -   (1)-5 country code of artist(s)    -   (1)-6 manufactured date        (2) Original Disc Right    -   (2)-1 owner of original disc    -   (2)-2 country code    -   (2)-3 co-owner    -   (2)-4 country code        (3) Copyright    -   (3)-1-1 songwriter    -   (3)-1-2 country code    -   (3)-1-3 representative publisher    -   (3)-1-4 country code    -   (3)-1-5 co-publisher    -   (3)-1-6 country code    -   (3)-2-1 musical composer    -   (3)-2-2 country code    -   (3)-2-3 representative publisher    -   (3)-2-4 country code    -   (3)-2-5 co-publisher    -   (3)-2-6 country code    -   (3)-3-1 musical arranger    -   (3)-3-2 country code    -   (3)-3-3 representative publisher    -   (3)-3-4 country code    -   (3)-3-5 co-publisher    -   (3)-3-6 country code        (4) Music Score    -   (4)-1 MIDI data    -   (4)-2 live music score    -   (4)-3 words        (5) Sound Source    -   (5)-1 digital sound source

FIGS. 12 and 13 respectively show examples of the index informationstored in the index database constituting the music database used forthe personal musical composition recording media purchasing systemaccording to the present invention. As can be seen from these examples,the index information is the information indicating a part of theinformation in the music database described above per musicalcomposition, and the index database is the database in which this indexinformation are stored.

The information of the index A shown in FIG. 12 includes each of theinformation listed below:  (1) Genre ; Japanese Music  (2) Title ofMusical Composition ; AKAI SWEETPEE  (3) Minutes of Musical Composition; 5 minutes 21 seconds  (4) Artist ; SEIKO MATSUDA  (5) Songwriter ;Karuho Kureta  (6) Musical Composer ; Karuho Kureta  (7) ManufactureDate ; 1982.7.1  (8) Representative Country of Original Disc ; Japan (9) Representative Company of Original Disc ; Sony Music (Japan) (10)Option I ; (words card) (11) Option II ; (Music Score)

The information of the index B shown in FIG. 13 includes each of theinformation listed below:  (1) Genre ; Western Music  (2) Title ofMusical Composition ; YESTERDAY  (3) Minutes of Musical Composition ; 4minutes 50 seconds  (4) Artist ; Beatles  (5) Songwriter ; John Lennon (6) Musical Composer ; Paul McCartney  (7) Manufacture Date ; 1968.7.1 (8) Representative Country of Original Disc ; England  (9)Representative Company of Original Disc ; APPLE RECORDS (10) Option I ;(words card) (11) Option II ; (Music Score)

The music database which will be described in the following embodimentsalso has a similar structure as described above, and the purchasingsystem of the present invention, by adopting this music database, forthe customers, a selection of the musical compositions could be made ina global manner, as well as for the copyrighters, the management of thecopyrights associated with the musical compositions could be carried outeasily.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the second embodiment of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media (as before, it isreferred to as “a purchasing system”) according to the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 14, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are composed of a store 100, a backchannel company 200, and abroadcasting station 300. The store 100 is connected with thebackchannel company 200 using a private line (instead, an internet or atelephone line could be used) 400. Further, the store 100 and thebroadcasting station 300, as well as the backchannel company 200 and thebroadcasting station 300 are respectively communicated with each otherthrough the satellite waves (instead, ground waves or cable could beused) 401, 402, respectively.

Similar to the first embodiment, the store 100 is the KIOSK and includesa MD production application accepting system 101 (as before, referred toas the “AAS”) which is composed of a monitor, a card reader, and adatabase retrieval/application terminal (not shown), a store sidedatabase 105 connected to the AAS 101 and composed of a musicalcomposition list database 102, a musical composition data database 103and an index database 104, a MD writer 106 connected to the store sidedatabase 105, a printer 107 connected to the store side database 105, acommunication system 108 connected to the AAS 101, a data broadcastingreceiving system 109, and a data broadcasting decoder 110 connected tothe store side database 105.

The backchannel company 200 includes a communication system 201connected to the communication system 108 of the store 100 via atelephone line 400; a server-client system (hereinafter referred to asthe “host-computer”) 202 connected to the communication system 201; amusic database 207 connected to the host-computer 202 and composed of amusical composition list database 203, a musical composition datadatabase 204, an index database 205 a copyright database 206; and acompany side database 210 connected to the host-computer 202 andcomposed of a customer database 206 an accounting approval database 207.

The broadcasting station 300 includes a communication system 301connected to the communication system 201 in the backchannel company 200through the satellite wave 401, a broadcasting data database 302connected to the communication system 301, a broadcasting data sendingserver 303 connected to the broadcasting data database 302, and a databroadcasting encoder 304 connected to the data broadcasting receivingsystem 109 in the store 100 through the broadcasting data sending server303 and the satellite wave 402.

The purchasing system shown in FIG. 14 is so configured that a customercould select a preferred artist or musician and a preferred musicalcomposition thereof, individually, in a store located nearby such as aconvenience store or a gas station, the customer could produce a MD ontowhich the selected musical compositions are digitally copied in thestore.

In the following, an operation of the purchasing system shown in FIG. 14will be described in detail.

2-1. Membership Recognition Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the membership recognition step described previously regarding thefirst embodiment and FIG. 2. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the communication system 108, the telephoneline 400, the host-computer 202, the communication system 201 of thebackchannel company 200, the customer managing database 208 of thecompany side database 210, the store 100, the communication system 201,the communication system 107 of the store 100, and the host-computer202.

2-2. Musical Composition Selection Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition selection step described previously regardingthe first embodiment and FIGS. 3A and 3B. However, with respect to thisembodiment, reference should be made to the musical composition listdatabase 102 and the index database 104 which are included in the storeside database 105.

2-3. Musical Composition Editing Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition editing step, including the steps of sorting,deletion and adding of musical compositions, described previouslyregarding the first embodiment and FIG. 4.

2-4. Design Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the design step, including the steps of jacket design selection andalbum title entry, described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIGS. 5 and 6.

2-5. Final Verification Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the final verification step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 7.

2-6. Payment Step

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the payment step described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIG. 8.

Next, referring to FIG. 16, the work steps in the store 100 and thebackchannel company 200 will be described.

2-7. MD Production Step

2-7.1. MD Disc Production Work

After the above mentioned steps 1 to 6 are completed, the productionstep of the MD is begun. In the present embodiment, the MD discproduction work, i.e., the recording, is implemented in the KIOSK, thatis, in the store 100 such as the convenience store or the gas stationand the like.

The input information required for the MD production is “MUSIC CODEGROUP A” as mentioned above. Based on MUSIC CODE GROUP A, the musicalcomposition data database 103 in the store side database 105 issearched, and the musical compositions corresponding to the informationof the MUSIC CODE GROUP A are selected from the musical composition datadatabase 103, and then the selected musical compositions are high-speedrecorded into the MD by the MD writer 106.

2-7.2. Jacket Production Work

This step as performed for the AAS 101 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition selection step described previously regardingthe first embodiment and FIG. 10, except that it is performed within thestore 100. In addition, with respect to this embodiment, referenceshould be made to the printer 107, the musical composition list database102 in the store side database 105 and the index database 104.

2-8. Transmission Step

After the above mentioned payment step is completed, the “MUSIC CODEGROUP A”, “CARD DATA D” and “CUSTOMER CODE E”, which have been producedas described above, are transmitted to the host-computer 202 which isprovided in the backchannel company 200 through the communication system108, the telephone line 400 and the communication system 201, as shownin FIGS. 14 and 15.

2-9. Backchannel Company's Work Step

The backchannel company work steps relating to the accounting approvaland the copyright process as performed for the AAS 101 in thisembodiment are identical to the same steps described previouslyregarding the first embodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect tothis embodiment, reference should be made to the host-computer 202, theaccounting approval database 209, the company side database 210, themusical composition list database 203 and the copyright database 206 inthe music database 207.

2-10. Musical Composition Database Update Step

It is very important for the customer to obtain information of newmusical compositions (the musical composition list, the musicalcomposition data, the index data, and the like). This information istransmitted from the broadcasting station 300 to the store 100 bysatellite wave and the like 402.

The backchannel company reads the new versions of the musicalcomposition list, the musical composition data and the index informationfrom the musical composition list database 203, the musical compositiondata database 204 and the index database 205 of the music database 207,respectively using the host-computer 202, and then transmits thisinformation from the communication system 201 to the communicationsystem 301 in the broadcasting station 300 by satellite wave (instead,it is possible to use the telephone line or the private line).

In the broadcasting station 300, the new versions of the musicalcomposition list, the musical composition data, the index informationare stored in the broadcasting data database 302. The broadcasting datasending server 303 sends the new versions of the musical compositionlist, the musical composition data, the index information stored in thebroadcasting data database 302 to the data broadcasting encoder 304. Thedata broadcasting encoder 304 converts this information to transmissionsignals by encoding them, and then transmits the transmission signals tothe data broadcasting receiving system 109 in the store 100 by satellitewave and the like 402.

The data broadcasting receiving system 109 in the store 100, which hasreceived the encoded signals, sends these signals to the databroadcasting decoder 110. Then, the data broadcasting decoder 110decodes the received signals, reads the new versions of the musicalcomposition list, the musical composition data and the indexinformation, and stores these new versions of the musical compositionlist, the musical composition data and the index information in themusical composition list database 102, the musical composition datadatabase 103 and the index database 104 in the store side database 105,respectively.

Accordingly, the purchasing system according to the present embodimentis so configured that the newest music information is always stored inthe store I 00, and thus it could respond to the needs for thecustomers.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing the third embodiment of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media (as before, it isreferred to as “a purchasing system”) according to the presentinvention.

Before describing the structure of FIG. 17, the features of the thirdembodiment will be described below. The substantial differences in thethird embodiment from the first and the second embodiments are such thatit is adapted to implement the MD application at the customer's home,and the new music is applied through the data broadcasting.

The third embodiment is a service directed to specific members only:

1) Only the new musical composition list (music codes) will be sent fromthe broadcasting station 1300 using the data broadcasting;

2) The desired new music will be clicked while watching TV programs,such as “MTV”, “Countdown TV” and the like;

3) Accessing host-computer 1202 when several numbers of the desiredmusic are accumulated;

4) The compilation MD will be delivered to the home 1100; and

5) The copyright approval process will be implemented.

In the following, the prerequisites in the third embodiment will bedescribed:

A. The member (customer) should already have a PC/TV at home bypurchasing it, or the dedicated board should have been attached to thePC which has been already at home by purchasing it, and the PC TV isconnected to the telephone line in the home;

B. When new music is released, the recording company will submit anotification of the necessary attributes to the music database, and thenthe music code will be allocated, accordingly;

C. Implementing the music broadcasting by embedding the music code(+alpha) into the broadcasting band which is not used for generalbroadcasting (e.g., a TV program such as “MTV” and the like);

D. Accumulating the music codes (+alpha) sent from the broadcastingstation 1300 into the PC/TV hard disc by operating a remote controller,a keyboard, or a mouse, and then transmitting them; (This PC/TV ispreferably linked to the music database homepage, and the musicalcomposition list database within the hard disc thereof is always updatedthereby.)

E. The broadcasting band which is not used for general broadcastingrefers to each band of the data broadcasting, the teletext broadcasting,sub-sound broadcasting;

F. It can be utilized as a system which is adapted to simplify theapplication work by encoding ticket information and general productinformation;

G. It can be utilized as a system for a radio broadcasting; and

H. It is also possible to use an IC card.

As shown in FIG. 17, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are composed of a home 1100, a backchannel company 1200, anda broadcasting station 1300. The home 1100 is connected with thebackchannel company 1200 using a telephone line (instead, an internet ora private line could be used) 1400. Further, the home 1100 and thebroadcasting station 1300, as well as the backchannel company 1200 andthe broadcasting station 1300 are respectively communicated with eachother through the satellite waves (instead, ground waves or cable couldbe used) 1401, 1402, respectively.

The home 1100 is a residence and the like of the customer, and includesa MD production application accepting system 1101 (the “AAS”), a musicalcomposition list database 1102 connected to the AAS 1101, acommunication system 1103 connected to the AAS 1101, a data broadcastingdecoder 1105 connected to the musical composition list data 1102, and adata broadcasting receiving system 1104 connected to the databroadcasting decoder 1105.

The backchannel company 1200 includes a communication system 1201connected to the communication system 1103 of the home 1100 via atelephone line 1400; a server-client system (the “host-computer”) 1202connected to the communication system 1201; a music database 1207connected to the host-computer 1202 and composed of a musicalcomposition list database 1203, a musical composition data database1204, an index database 1205 and a copyright database 1206; and acompany side database 1210 connected to the host-computer 1202 andcomposed of a customer database 1206 and an accounting approval database1207. Further, the MD writer 1211 and the printer 1212 are connected tothe music database 1207, respectively.

The broadcasting station 1300 includes a communication system 1301connected to the communication system 1201 in the backchannel company1200 through the satellite wave 1401, a broadcasting data database 1302connected to the communication system 1301, a broadcasting data sendingserver 1303 connected to the broadcasting data database 1302, and a databroadcasting encoder 1304 connected to the data broadcasting receivingsystem 1104 in the home 1100 through the broadcasting data sendingserver 1303 and the satellite wave 1402.

This third embodiment differs from the first and the second embodimentsdescribed above in that it is configured such that the musicalcomposition list (=music codes) is data-broadcast from the broadcastingstation, and the MD can be applied at the home. The applied MD will bedelivered from backchannel company 1200 to the home 1100.

In the following, an operation of the purchasing system of the thirdembodiment will be described in detail.

Assuming that a recording company M has produced, for example, a newmusic recording “LOVE YOU” of SEIKO MATSUDA, the recording company Mwill immediately register that new music to the music database. Byregistering, a music code for that new music, for example 081AMDM029988,is provided. Then, the recording company M puts the new music “LOVE YOU”of SEIKO MATSUDA on air in the TV program “Countdown TV” by bringing thepromotional video tape of the new music “LOVE YOU” on which the musiccode 081AMDM029988 is provided into the TV program “Countdown TV” of thecommercial broadcasting station TBS, and transmits the music code081AMDM029988 with the data broadcasting band at the same time.

It is assumed that, on a monitor screen of the PC TV which is connectedto the telephone line, the TV program “Countdown TV” is turned on, andjust the new music “LOVE YOU” of SEIKO MATSUDA is on air.

FIG. 18 shows a monitor screen of the PC/TV at the home 1100. Herein, itis assumed that in the main broadcasting (in the above case, it is theTV program “Countdown TV” of TBS) a scene of the new music “LOVE YOU” ofa singer A (in the above case, it is SEIKO MATSUDA) is running on theair, and then a scene of the new music “HOW TO BE A GIRL” of a singer B(in this case, NAMIE AMURO) is running on the air.

3-1. Selection

The entry displays “SELECTION” and “APPLICATION” are shown on themonitor screen of the PC/TV. Herein, assuming that the entry display“SELECTION” is blinking in order to indicate a possibility of capturing,then by clicking or touching this blinking entry display “SELECTION”,the music code 081AMDM029988 corresponding to the new music “LOVE YOU”is stored into the hard disc of the PC/TV.

Similarly, the customer (the member) selects the new music “HOW TO BE AGIRL” of NAMIE AMURO during the same main broadcasting (the broadcastingof the TV program “Countdown TV” of TBS), and then the music codecorresponding to this music is stored into the hard disc of the PC/TV.

By doing so, it is assumed that, by selecting eight music selectionsduring the same main broadcasting, the music codes for eight musicselections are stored into the hard disc of the PC/TV when the TVprogram “Countdown TV” has been completed. Further, it is assumed thatthe customer (the member) has selected seven music selections during thebroadcasting of other TV program, the music codes for seven musicselections are stored into the hard disc of the PC/TV when that TVprogram has been completed.

In the above case, the music codes for the total of fifteen musicselections are stored into the hard disc of the PC/TV.

3-2. Application

The process moves to the application operation, as shown in FIG. 19,when the selection step of the above has been completed.

By clicking (or touching) the entry display “APPLICATION” on the monitorscreen of the PC/TV, the entry displays “MUSIC”, “SHOPPING”, “TICKET”are displayed on the monitor screen. The item “MUSIC” is clicked in thisembodiment.

By clicking the item “MUSIC”, in this embodiment, the “THE GROUP A OFMUSIC CODES” composed of the music codes of the music selections, aswell as the “CUSTOMER CODE E” are produced. Furthermore, at the sametime, a browser within the hard disc of the PC/TV is started-upautomatically, and as shown in FIG. 20, after the words “THE MUSICALCOMPOSITIONS YOU HAVE SELECTED ARE:” are displayed, the musicalcompositions selected in the above mentioned manner are displayed on thescreen.

The musical composition editing process, including the steps of sorting,deleting and adding musical compositions, as performed for the AAS 1101in this embodiment, is identical to the musical composition editingprocess, including the steps of sorting, deleting and adding musicalcompositions, described previously regarding the first embodiment andFIGS. 4, 7 and 8.

3-3. Design Step

This step as performed for the AAS 1101 in this embodiment is identicalto the design step, including the steps of jacket design selection andalbum title entry, described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIGS. 5 and 6.

3-4. Final Verification Step

This step as performed for the AAS 1101 in this embodiment is identicalto the final verification step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 7.

3-5. Payment Step

This step as performed for the AAS 1101 in this embodiment is identicalto the payment step described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIG. 8.

3-6. Transmission Step

This step as performed for the AAS 1101 in this embodiment is identicalto the transmission step described previously regarding the secondembodiment and FIGS. 9 and 15, except that reference should be made tothe host-computer 1202 which is provided in the backchannel company 1200through the communication system 1103, the telephone line 1400 and thecommunication system 1201, as shown in FIG. 17.

3-7. Backchannel Company Work Steps

The work steps of the backchannel company 1200 relating to the MD discproduction work, the jacket production work, the accounting approval,the copyright process and the mailing work as performed for the AAS 1101in this embodiment are identical to the same steps described previouslyregarding the first embodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect tothis embodiment, reference should be made to the host-computer 1202, themusical composition list database 1204 in the music database 1207, theMD writer 1211, the accounting approval database 1209, the company sidedatabase 1210, the printer 1212, the musical composition list database1203, the index database 1205, the music database 1207, the customerdatabase 1208, the accounting approval database 1209 and the copyrightdatabase 1206.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing the fourth embodiment of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media (as before, it isreferred to as “a purchasing system”) according to the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 21, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are composed of a home 2100, a backchannel company 2200, anda broadcasting station 2300. The home 2100 is connected with thebackchannel company 2200 using a telephone line (instead, an internet ora private line could be used) 2400. Further, the home 2100 and thebroadcasting station 2300, as well as the backchannel company 2200 andthe broadcasting station 2300 are respectively communicated with eachother through the satellite waves (instead, ground waves or cable couldbe used) 2401, 2402, respectively.

The home 2100 includes a MD production application accepting system 2101(the “AAS”) including the PC/TV; a home side database 2105 connected tothe AAS 2101 and composed of a musical composition list database 2102, amusical composition data database 2103 and an index database 2104; a MDwriter 2106 connected to the home side database 2105; a printer 2107connected to the home side database 2105; a communication system 2108connected to the AAS 2101; a data broadcasting receiving system 2109;and a data broadcasting decoder 2110 connected to the home side database2105.

The backchannel company 2200 includes a communication system 2201connected to the communication system 2108 of the home 2100 via atelephone line and the like 2400; a server-client system (the“host-computer”) 2202 connected to the communication system 2201; amusic database 2207 connected to the host-computer 2202 and composed ofa musical composition list database 2203, a musical composition datadatabase 2204, an index database 2205 and a copyright database 2206, anda company side database 2210 connected to the host-computer 2202 andcomposed of a customer database 2206 and an accounting approval database2207.

The broadcasting station 2300 includes a communication system 2301connected to the communication system 2201 in the backchannel company2200 through the satellite wave 2401, a broadcasting data database 2302connected to the communication system 2301, a broadcasting data sendingserver 2303 connected to the broadcasting data database 2302, and a databroadcasting encoder 2304 connected to the data broadcasting receivingsystem 2109 in the home 100, through the broadcasting data sendingserver 2303 and the satellite wave 2402.

Before describing the structure of FIG. 21, the features of the fourthembodiment will be described below.

Although this fourth embodiment resembles the third embodiment describedabove, the substantial difference is that it is configured to produce aMD at home, and the new music can be the MD produced with the databroadcasting. Further, the purchasing system of the fourth embodiment isa service directed to the specific member:

1) The musical composition list (music codes) and the musicalcomposition data will be sent from the broadcasting station 2300 usingthe data broadcasting;

2) The utilization status is suck up with the telephone line;

3) The copyright approval process is implemented.

In the following, the prerequisites in the fourth embodiment aredescribed:

A. The musical composition list database is stored in the hard discwithin the PC/TV (maintenance is updated by a telephone line atmidnight).

B. A musical composition list (music codes) and a musical compositiondata (digital sound source) of a new musical composition is coming downthrough the data broadcasting. A dedicated decoder is used.

C. A person who wants to purchase a new musical composition will click abutton during the main broadcasting. At that moment, the musicalcomposition list (music codes) is accumulated and will be sent to thehost-computer together with a member code. An approval code will be sentback from the host-computer. Further, the musical composition data (themusic sound source) is stored into the hard disc once, but a watermarkwill be input only by matching with the above mentioned approval code,and the decipherment will be implemented. Then, only once, it ishigh-speed recorded from the hard disc to the MD.

In the following, referring to FIGS. 22 to 24, an operation of thepurchasing system of the fourth embodiment will be described in detail.

It is assumed that a recording company M has produced, for example, anew music recording “LOVE YOU” by SEIKO MATSUDA. The recording company Mwill immediately register that new music to the music database, and alsoa music sound source (digital) is deposited on the same date. Then, amusic code for that new music, for example 081AMDM029988, is provided.Then, the recording company M puts the new music “LOVE YOU” of SEIKOMATSUDA on air in the special channel for the music delivering program“NEW MUSIC” of the J SKY B by bringing the promotional video tape of thenew music “LOVE YOU” on which the music code 081AMDM029988 and the musicsound source (digital) are provided into the special channel for themusic delivering “NEW MUSIC”, and transmits the music code 081AMDM029988and the music sound source (digital) with the data broadcasting band atthe same time.

It is assumed that, on a monitor screen of the PC/TV which is connectedto the telephone line, the channel “NEW MUSIC” is turned on, and justthe new music “LOVE YOU” of SEIKO MATSUDA is on air.

FIG. 22 shows a monitor screen of the PC/TV at the home 2100. Herein, itis assumed that in the main broadcasting (in the above case, it is thechannel “NEW MUSIC” of J SKY B) a scene of the new music “LOVE YOU” of asinger A (in the above case, it is SEIKO MATSUDA) is running on the air.

4-1. Acquisition

The entry displays “ACQUISITION” and “APPLICATION” are shown on themonitor screen of the PC/TV. Herein, it is assumed that the entrydisplay “ACQUISITION” is blinking in order to indicate a possibility ofa direct receiving. Then, by clicking or touching this blinking entrydisplay “ACQUISITION”, the music code 081AMDM029988 and the music soundsource (digital) corresponding to the music “LOVE YOU” are stored on thehard disc of the PC/TV.

Similarly, the customer (the member) selects the new music “HOW TO BE AGIRL” of NAMIE AMURO during the same main broadcasting (the channel “NEWMUSIC” of J SKY B), and then the music code and the music sound source(digital) corresponding to this music is stored into the hard disc ofthe PC/TV. By doing so, it is assumed that, by selecting a few musicselections during the same main broadcasting, the music codes for fivemusic selections are stored on the hard disc of the PC/TV when thechannel “NEW MUSIC” has been completed. Accordingly, in this example,“THE GROUP A OF MUSIC CODES” and “THE MUSIC SOUND SOURCE ALPHA” composedof five music selections are produced.

4-2. Application

The process moves to the application operation, as shown in FIG. 23,when the acquisition step of the above has been completed.

By clicking (or touching) the entry display “APPLICATION” on the monitorscreen of the PC/TV, the entry displays “MUSIC”, “SHOPPING”, “TICKET”are displayed on the monitor screen. Item “MUSIC” is clicked in thisembodiment.

By clicking the item “MUSIC”, in this embodiment, the “THE GROUP A OFMUSIC CODES” composed of the music codes of several music selections(e.g., five) as well as the “CUSTOMER CODE E” are produced as well.Further, at the same time, a browser within the hard disc of the PC/TVis started-up automatically, and then, after having displayed the words“ACQUISITION CONFIRMATION/THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOU HAVE SELECTEDARE:”, the musical compositions selected in the above mentioned mannerare displayed on the screen.

The musical composition editing process, including the steps of sorting,deleting and adding musical compositions, as performed for the AAS 2101in this embodiment, is identical to the musical composition editingprocess, including the steps of sorting, deleting and adding musicalcompositions, described previously regarding the first embodiment andFIGS. 4, 7 and 8.

4-3. Design Step

This step as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodiment is identicalto the design step, including the steps of jacket design selection andalbum title entry, described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIGS. 5 and 6.

4-4. Final Verification Step

This step as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodiment is identicalto the final verification step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 7 (except for the cost being 2,000 YEN).

4-5. Payment Step

This step as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodiment is identicalto the payment step described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIG. 8.

4-6. Transmission Step

This step as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodiment, as shown inFIG. 24, is essentially identical to the transmission step describedpreviously regarding the second embodiment, except that reference shouldbe made to the host-computer 2202 which is provided in the backchannelcompany 2200 through the communication system 2108, the telephone line2400 and the communication system 2201, as shown in FIG. 21.

4-6.1. Accounting Approval

The accounting approval as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodimentis identical to the same step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the host-computer 2202, the customerdatabase 2208 and the accounting approval database 2209 in the companyside database 2210.

4-6.2. Copyright Process

The copyright process as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodimentis identical to the same step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the host-computer 2202 the musicalcomposition list database 2203 and the copyright database 2206 in themusic database 2207.

4-7. Cipher Approval

After having confirmed the receipt of “MUSIC CODE GROUP A”, “CARD DATAD” and “CUSTOMER CODE E” in the host-computer 2202 of the backchannelcompany 2220, “APPROVAL CODE B” is transmitted to the PC/TV of the home2100, attached to “CUSTOMER CODE E”.

4-8. Defrost

If “MUSIC CODE GROUP A” being stored within the hard disc of the PC/TVin the home 2100 and “APPROVAL CODES B” being sent from thehost-computer 2202 in the backchannel company 2200 match, then it ispossible to record the desired musical compositions into the MD (onlyonce, because the watermark will then be entered).

4-9. MD Disc Production Work

After the above mentioned steps are completed, the production step ofthe MD is begun. In this embodiment, the MD disc production work, i.e.,the recording, is implemented in the home 2100. Group A of the musicsound sources which has been defrosted in the above step are high-speedrecorded into the MD by the MD writer 2106.

4-10. Jacket Production Work

This step as performed for the AAS 2101 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition selection step described previously regardingthe first embodiment and FIG. 10, except that it is performed in thehome 2100. In addition, with respect to this embodiment, referenceshould be made to the printer 2107 and the musical composition listdatabase 2103 in the home side database 2105.

All of the above embodiments are described when the system forpurchasing a personal recording media, the method of purchasing apersonal recording media, and the media recorded with a personalrecording media purchasing program are applied to musical compositions.

However, the present invention is not limited to musical compositions,but it could be applied to, for example, digital compositions in whichvideo and/or sound are used as the information source, such as moviesand TV advertisements. In these cases, as the personal recording media,the MD for the musical compositions could be replaced with a videocassette tape, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or the like. Further, thepresent invention could also be applied to a software game in whichimages of the graphics and/or sound are used as the information source.In these cases, as the personal recording media, the MD for the musicalcompositions could be replaced with floppy disks and the like.

According to the present invention, the customer could produce andpurchase a personal recording media in which the customer's desiredinformation are recorded only, by using the system, the method, as wellas the media of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the fifth embodiment of thesystem for purchasing a personal recording media (as before, it isreferred to as “a purchasing system”) according to the presentinvention.

Before describing the structure of FIG. 25, the features of the fifthembodiment will be described below. The substantial differences in thefifth embodiment from any one of the aforementioned embodiments are suchthat it utilizes an Integrated Circuit (IC) card or so called Smart Cardconstituted of a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory or memories(e.g., EPROM and the like) and a click radio into which the IC card isinserted in order to store musical information (music codes)corresponding to musical compositions in a music program or musicprograms being broadcast from the broadcasting station into the memory(or the memories) of the IC card by pressing an acquisition buttoninstalled in the click radio while the customer is listening to themusic program on air, and it is adapted such that the customer can applyand purchase a MD constituted of the customer's favorite music(including the music of which the customer was listening on the musicprogram (or programs)) by carrying the IC card of which the musicalinformation (music codes) has been stored into the memory (or memories)thereof to the KIOSK such as a convenience store and the like.

The fifth embodiment is as follows:

1) A service directed to only the specific members who possess orutilize the click radio and the IC card;

2) Only the musical composition list (music codes) will be sent from thebroadcasting station using the data broadcasting;

3) The desired music will be clicked when a favorite music is on airwhile listening to the music programs with the radio, such as “TheJ-WAVE SELECTION”, and the like;

4) Accessing to the host-computer from the convenience store using theIC card when the information corresponding to several numbers of thedesired music are accumulated into the IC card;

5) The compilation MD is delivered to the home;

6) The copyright/accounting approval processes are implemented; and

7) In order to utilize the system of the present embodiment, the member(customer) should meet the following prerequisite;

-   -   a) The member (customer) should possess an IC card which is        issued by registering a membership;    -   b) The member (customer) should possess a click radio which is        adapted to insert/remove the IC card and has an Input/Output        (I/O) function such that it can store the musical information        (the music codes) corresponding to the musical compositions in a        music program (or the music programs) broadcast from the        broadcasting station(s) into the memory (or the memories) of the        IC card by pressing the acquisition button installed in the        click radio while the customer is listening to the music program        on air.

As shown in FIG. 25, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are constituted of the IC card 5000, the click radio 5100,the store 5200, the backchannel company 5300, and the broadcastingstation 5400.

The IC card 5000 is constituted of a central processing unit (CPU) and amemory (e.g., EPROM) (not shown), and wherein the information regardingthe membership registration number (accessing number) by the membershipregistration (or it may be a unique password for each member,preferably) is stored in the memory of the IC card 5000.

The click radio 5100 is constituted of a data broadcasting receiver5101, a data broadcasting decoder 5102 connected to the databroadcasting receiver 5101, and a controller 5103 connected to both ofthe data broadcasting receiver 5101 and the data broadcasting decoder5102.

The data broadcasting receiver 5101 is constituted of a tuner forenabling to select a variety of the broadcasting stations (not shown),and an antenna for receiving the FM/AM broadcasting and the databroadcasting which are being broadcast from the broadcasting stationsselected by the tuner. Herein, it is assumed that both the FM/AMbroadcasting and the data broadcasting are transmitted by using thedigital signals, but they might be analog signals.

The data broadcasting decoder 5102 is connected to the data broadcastingreceiver 5101, and reproduces the analog music signals (hereinafter, itis referred to as “the music composition signals” or just “the musicsignals”) by decoding the digital signal of the music broadcastingprogram received by the data broadcasting receiver 5101 and bydigital-to-analog converting the decoded digital signals of the musicbroadcasting program(s) so that the members are enable to listen to themusic through an earphone or a speaker (not shown).

The controller 5103 is connected to both of the data broadcastingreceiver 5101 and the data broadcasting decoder 5102, and controls theboth of the data broadcasting receiver 5101 and the data broadcastingdecoder 5102 so as to store the digital codes corresponding to the musicsignals included in the signals of the data broadcasting received by thedata broadcasting receiver 5101 in the memory of the IC card 5000.

The store 5200 is, for example a KIOSK, and includes a MD productionapplication accepting system 5201 (as before, it is referred to as the“AAS” hereinafter) which is composed of a monitor, an IC card-reader,and a database retrieval/application terminal (not shown), a controller5202 connected to the AAS 5201 for controlling the information of themusic codes read from the IC card 5000 by the IC card-reader, and acommunication system 5203 connected to the controller 5202.

The backchannel company 5300 includes a communication system 5301 whichis connected to the communication system 5203 of the store 5200 via atelephone line or the Internet, a server-client system (hereinafter, itis referred to as the “host-computer”) 5302 which is connected to thecommunication system 5301, a music database 5307 which is connected tothe host-computer 5302 and composed of a musical composition listdatabase 5303, a musical composition data database 5304, an indexdatabase 5305 as well as a copyright database 5306, a MD writer 5308connected to the music database 5307, a printer 5309 connected to themusic database 5307, and a company side database 5312 connected to thehost-computer 5302 and composed of a customer database 5310 as well asan accounting approval database 5311.

The broadcasting station 5400 includes a communication system 5401connected to the communication system 5301 in the backchannel company5300 through the satellite wave and the like, a broadcasting datadatabase 5402 connected to the communication system 5401, a broadcastingdata sending server 5403 connected to the broadcasting data database5402, and a data broadcasting encoder 5404 connected to the databroadcasting receive 5102 of the click radio 5100 through thebroadcasting data sending server 5403 and the satellite wave.

The system shown in FIG. 25 is provided with the copyright database 5306which stores the information regarding the copyright that aresubstantially related to the music of each country all over the world.Although the information regarding the relations of right for thecopyright relating to the music is specifically stored in this copyrightdatabase 5306, it may be adapted to store the information of copyrightrelating to the movies, etc (mainly the information regarding therelations of right).

The host computer 5302 includes a requested musical compositionevaluation unit 5314 provided with a function for registering theinformation of musical composition into the musical composition listdatabase 5303 and the musical composition data database 5304, and isconnected to the Input/Output (I/O) device 5313 through thecommunication system 5301. By entering the information of musicalcomposition from the I/O device 5313, the songwriters, the composers,and the arrangers, all of which are having the respective copyrights ofthe musical composition, can easily register their works (theinformation of musical compositions) into the musical composition listdatabase 5303 and the musical composition data database 5304 through thecommunication system 5301 and the requested musical compositionevaluation unit 5314.

Further, the host computer 5302 includes the applicable copyrightrelated information determining unit 5318 provided with a function forretrieving and discriminating the copyright relating to the musicalcompositions registered into the musical composition list database 5303and the musical composition data database 5304, based on the musicalcomposition to be used.

Moreover, the host computer 5302 comprises the musical composition usedtime counting unit 5316 having a function for counting the number oftimes the musical composition being used.

The host computer 5302 includes the accounting and royalty determiningunit 5319 provided with a function for determining the royaltydistribution ratios based on the relations of right of the applicablecopyright determined by the applicable copyright related informationdetermining unit 5318, and the information stored in the accountingapproval database 5311.

The host computer 5302 is provided with a function for collecting apredetermined accounting approval from a user of the musical compositionand for returning the respective predetermined royalties to the agentssuch as the music publisher(s) and the recording companies as well aseach of the copyright holders relating to the musical composition(s) tobe used, based on the counting results from the musical composition usedtime counting unit 5316 and the royalty distribution rates determined bythe royalty determining unit 5319. This function can be easilyimplemented by utilizing the IC card.

Further, the accounting approval and royalty determining unit 5319 ofthe host computer 5302 is also provided with a function for changing theaccounting approval information based on the information regarding theto the usage purpose of the registered musical composition(s).

The musical composition purpose of use evaluation unit 5315 is providedwith a function for deciding the usage purpose of the musicalcomposition and for storing the evaluated result(s) during apredetermined period of time (until it becomes unnecessary).

The customer recognition unit 5317 of the host computer 5302 has afunction for recognizing the customer information inputted from thestore 5200, the broadcasting station 5400, or the I/O device 5313 withreference to the customer database 5310, and for storing the newcustomer information into the customer database 5310 as required.

The I/O device 5313 can be installed in the store 5200, the broadcastingstation 5400, and the like, respectively. By configuring as describedabove, the user such as the broadcasting station can easily access themusical compositions desirable to use, and also the songwriters,composers, and arrangers can easily register their songs, music scoresand the like.

In the following, with reference to FIGS. 26 to 30, an operation of thefifth embodiment will be described in details.

5-1. Acquisition Step by Using IC Card

As shown in FIG. 26, it is assumed that the customer is listening to amusic program of FM broadcasting, e.g., “J-WAVE SELECTION”, which isbroadcast from the broadcasting station 5400. The broadcasting station5400 broadcasts a musical composition, for example the “Love You” ofSeiko Matsuda, and also simultaneously broadcasts the music code081AMDM029988 corresponding to that musical composition in a databroadcasting band. Then, the customer inserts the IC card 5000 into theclick radio 5100 and clicks the acquisition button (not shown) becausethe customer's favorite music “Love You” of Seiko Matsuda is just on airwhile listening to the music broadcasting program “J-WAVE SELECTION”. Byclicking the acquisition button, the music code 081AMDM029988corresponding to the musical composition “Love You” of Seiko Matsuda isstored into the memory of the IC card 5000.

Similarly, the above described procedures are repeated for acquiring thedifferent musical compositions. The member selects the musicalcomposition such as “Can You Celebrate” by Namie Amuro, from the samemusic broadcasting program and/or the different music broadcastingprogram(s) being broadcast from any stations, and then stores the musiccode corresponding to this musical composition into the memory of the ICcard 5000.

As shown in the flow diagram of FIG. 27, a member acquires severalmusical compositions from a variety of the music programs (step S1),stores appropriate numbers of music codes, for example the music codesof 5 different musical compositions, into the memory of the IC card(step S2), and completes an accumulation of the musical composition datato the IC card 5000 (a download of the music codes) (step S3).

When the above steps are completed, the customer brings the IC card 5000to the store 5200 and then applies for the compilation MD production.

5-2. Membership Recognition Step

As shown in FIG. 28, at the store 5200, a switch of the purchasingsystem is turned on by touching an item “START” on a screen of a touchsensor type monitor (hereinafter, it is referred to as the “monitor”) inthe AAS 5201. A word “WELCOME” is displayed on the monitor screen, andthen words “PLEASE INSERT A IC CARD” is displayed on the screen. Herein,as shown in a flowchart of FIG. 29, at the store 5200, at first, themembership recognition process is implemented (step S11). That is, asshown in FIG. 28, if the customer is a registered member of thepurchasing system, the customer inserts the IC card into the IC cardreader (not shown) of the AAS 5201. After the IC card reader has readthe IC card, the words “PLEASE ENTER YOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATIONNUMBER” is displayed on the monitor. Based on the display thereof, themember enters a personal identification number (hereinafter, it isreferred to as the “PIN”) which is a unique for each member. The entryof the PIN can be implemented by touching the numbers and/or thealphabet characters displayed on the monitor screen. The information ofthe entered PIN and the information of the member registration number ofthe IC card, which has been read in advance by the IC card reader, aretransmitted from the communication system 5203 to the host-computer 5302via a telephone line, a leased line or the Internet through thecommunication system 5301 of the backchannel company 5300.

In the backchannel company 5300, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 30,the host-computer 5302 receives the signals including the information ofthe PIN and the member registration number (step S21), the host-computer5302 searches the customer managing database 5310 of the company sidedatabase 5312 based on the received information of the PIN and themember registration number (step S22), and makes a matching whether ornot the customer is a valid member (step S23), and then transmits theinformation concerning the result of that matching from thecommunication system 5301 via the telephone line to the AAS 5201 throughthe communication system 5203, the controller 5202 of the store 5200(step S24). Further, the host-computer 5302 produces a customer code Ewhen the customer is a valid member.

The AAS 5201 in the store 5200 displays the words “OK” on the monitorscreen's display when the customer is a valid member based on the signalincluding the received information concerning the result of thematching, and on the other hand, when the customer is an invalid member,then the AAS 5201 displays the words “INVALID” on the monitor screen'sdisplay (step S12 in FIG. 29).

In case that the wrong PIN is entered during the above mentionedoperation, it could be constituted such that the PIN can be re-enteredby displaying the words “INVALID” on the screen, followed by displayingthe words “PLEASE ENTER YOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AGAIN WITHGREAT CARE” on the screen. In this case, as similar to the firstembodiment, from a view point of a security, it could be constitutedsuch that the limitation would be imposed on the number of times ofwhich the PIN can be re-entered. Then, if the matching could not be madewithin the predefined number of times for the re-entry, the purchasingsystem is automatically turned off.

5-3. Acquisition Musical Composition Display Step

When the words “OK” is displayed on the monitor screen, the monitordisplays a list of the musical compositions based on the music data(music codes) being stored in the memory of the IC card 5000 (step S13in FIG. 29).

That is, “the group A of music codes” constituted of a plurality ofmusic codes for the musical compositions (five musical compositions inthis embodiment) as well as “the customer's code E” are generated at thesame time when the words “OK” is displayed on the monitor screen. Then,the monitor displays on the screen the words “ACQUISITIONCONFIRMATION—THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOU HAVE SELECTED ARE:”, followedby the musical compositions which are acquired in a manner as describedabove.

5-4. Musical Composition Editing Step

5-4.1. Sorting of Musical Compositions

This step as performed in this embodiment is identical to the musicalcomposition sorting step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 4.

5-4.2. Musical Composition Test—Confirmation Step

Prior to producing the MD based on the musical compositions being listedalong with the display of “THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS YOU HAVE SELECTEDARE:”, for confirming whether or not these musical compositions areindeed the desired ones by the customer, it is necessary to test a pieceof each of the chosen musical compositions.

When the customer turns on the musical composition test device installedin the AAS 5201 in the store 5200 and then puts on a headphone, thecustomer can listen to lyrics and/or melody for each of the musicalcompositions listed on the display through the headphone, and thecustomer also can confirm it visually by looking at an indicator on thedisplay screen, which indicates the portion of the musical compositionbeing played through the headphone with an emphasized tone. Thisoperation can be easily implemented by synchronizing the signal of themusical composition with the signal displaying the list of the musicalcompositions being displayed on the monitor.

Then, based on the result of this confirmation step of the musicalcomposition test, the following steps “DELETE” and/or “ADD” can beimplemented if so desired.

5-4.3. Deletion of Musical Compositions

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition deleting step described previously regardingthe first embodiment and FIG. 4.

5-4.4. Addition of Musical Compositions

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the musical composition adding step described previously regardingthe first embodiment and FIG. 4.

5-5. Design Step

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the design step, including the steps of jacket design selection andalbum title entry, described previously regarding the first embodimentand FIGS. 5 and 6.

5-6. Final Verification Step

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the final verification step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 7.

5-7. Payment Step

In this embodiment, it is adapted to implement a bank withdrawalautomatically with an IC card type-electronic money. As shown in FIG.31, from the memory of the IC card 5000, the credit information is readby the IC card-reader, and the signal including the credit informationis transmitted to the host-computer 5302 in the backchannel company 5300and the confirmation data receiving process is implemented (step S31),then the credit confirmation process is implemented by retrieving thecustomer database 5310, the accounting approval database 5311 based onthe confirmation data just received (step S32), and the confirmationresult transmission process is implemented by transmitting the resultthereof to the store 5200 (step S33). Then the “CARD DATA D” is producedby implementing these processes (steps S31-S33).

5-8. Transmission Step

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the transmission step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 9. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the host-computer 5302, the backchannelcompany 5300, the communication system 5203, and the telephone line andthe communication system 5301, as shown in FIG. 25.

5-8.1. Accounting Approval

The host-computer 5302 retrieves the customer database 5310 and theaccounting approval database 5311 in the company side database 5312,based on the information of “CARD DATA D” and “CUSTOMER CODE E”, and thenecessary information is sent from these databases to a predeterminedfinancial institution such as a credit company and the like, and thenthe accounting approval of the customer is carried out (steps S41-S42 inFIG. 32).

5-8.2. Copyright Process

The host-computer 5302 retrieves the musical composition list database5303 and the copyright database 5306 in the music database 5307, basedon the information of “MUSIC CODE GROUP A”, and the copyright processand the original disc process are carried out by sending the necessaryinformation from the copyright database 5306 in the music-database 5307to JASRAC, The Harry Fox Agency, as well as to the recording company andthe like (step S43 in FIG. 32).

5-9. MD Disc Production Work

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the MD disc production work step described previously regarding thefirst embodiment and FIG. 10, as shown at step S44 in FIG. 32. However,with respect to this embodiment, reference should be made to thebackchannel company 5300, the musical composition data database 5304 inthe music database 5307 and the MD writer 5308.

5-10. Jacket Production Work

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the MD jacket production work step described previously regarding thefirst embodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the backchannel company 5300, the printer5309, the musical composition list database 5303 in the music database5307 and the index database 5305.

5-11. Mailing Work

This step as performed for the AAS 5201 in this embodiment is identicalto the MD mailing step described previously regarding the firstembodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the host-computer 5302 and the customerdatabase 5310 in the company side database 5312.

By using the system according to the present invention, the variouskinds of rights relating to the copyright in the music described asabove can be efficiently processed as follows.

FIG. 32 shows the configurations of the main parts of the server-clientsystem which is a part of the backchannel company which will be used forall embodiments described above. In the communication system 5301, theI/O device is connected thereto, as similar to the one shown in FIG. 25.

In the following, the configuration of the host-computer 5302 of thebackchannel company 5300 will be described.

The host computer 5302 comprises (a) a requested musical compositiondiscriminating unit 5314 for discriminating whether or not the musicalcomposition requested by the member has already been registered in thesystem, by retrieving the musical composition list database 5303 and themusical data database 5304, based on the information regarding themusical compositions included in the signal transmitted from the store,(b) a musical composition usage purpose determining unit 5315, connectedto the requested musical composition discriminating unit 5314, fordetermining a usage purpose of the requested musical composition if itwere evaluated that the requested musical composition has already beenregistered in the system, and (c) an applicable copyright relatedinformation decision unit 5318, connected to the musical compositiondatabase (the musical composition list database 5303 and the musicalcomposition data database 5304), the musical composition usage purposedetermining unit 5315, and the database associated with the copyright(the index database 5305 and the copyright database 5306), respectively,for deciding the information associated with the copyright which isapplicable to the requested musical composition by retrieving thedatabase associated with the copyright based on the usage purpose of themusical composition determined by the musical usage purpose determiningunit 5315 and the information regarding the requested musicalcomposition stored in the musical composition database.

The host-computer 5302 further comprises (d) a musical compositionnumber of use counting unit 5316, connected to the communication system5301, for counting the number of use of the requested musicalcomposition, (e) an accounting and royalty decision unit 5319, connectedto the musical number of use counting unit 5316, the applicablecopyright related information decision unit 5318, and the accountingapproval database 5311, for deciding the accounting and royaltyregarding the requested musical composition, based on the number of useof the musical composition, the applied information associated with thecopyright, and the accounting approval information.

The host-computer 5302 still further comprises (f) a customercertification unit 5317, connected to the communication system 5301 andthe customer database 5310, for recognizing a membership whether or notthe one who has requested the musical composition is a member, based onthe information included in the signal transmitted from the store andthe customer information (mainly including the information regarding themember, the information of the songwriter (author), the information ofthe musical composer, the information of the musical arranger, and theinformation of the agents such as the recording company, the publisher,the entertainment production, and the like) stored in the customerdatabase 5310, and for sending the required membership information tothe communication system 5301 by reading it out of the customer database5310.

The 1/O device 5313 is adapted to input/output the signal which includesthe information that is different from the one input from the store5200.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the 1/O device 5313 isadapted to insert/remove the IC card (the Smart Card), but the I/Odevice is not limited to this type.

1. Registering of the lyric by the songwriter;

2. Registering of the musical composition by the musical composer;

3. Registering of the musical arrangement by the musical arranger;

4. Registering of the requested musical composition, the usage purposethereof by the applicant who wishes to use the musical composition(other than the applicant who desires to purchase the MD);

5. Registering of the number of use of the requested musical compositionby the user of musical composition (other than the applicant who desiresto purchase the MD);

6. Outputting the accounting information to the applicant using themusical composition, who has used the musical composition;

7. Outputting the payment information of the royalty to the songwriter;

8. Outputting the payment information of the royalty to the musicalcomposer;

9. Outputting the payment information of the royalty to the musicalarranger;

10. Outputting the payment information to the respective agents; and

11. Registering the updated information to the copyright associatedinformation database 5305, 5306 regarding the copyright associatedinformation, can be easily performed by using the IC card, from the 1/Odevice 5313. It might be arranged to secure the security by utilizingthe encryption technique when performing the above mentioned processesof registering.

Furthermore, by providing the musical composition reproducing devicewhich is utilized at a time of using the musical composition, with thecard-reader having a function of reading/writing the IC card, and byarranging that the musical composition reproducing device is to befunctioned only when the specific IC card (the one registered withmembership) has been inserted into the card-reader, the usage time ofthe musical composition which was used for a broadcasting station and/ora Karaoke-bar is automatically written into the IC card by thecard-reader, thereby the information of the usage time of the musicalcomposition can be stored into the IC card. Then by inserting the ICcard in which the information of the usage time of the musicalcomposition is stored into another card-reader for use in the IC cardinstalled in the I/O device and by reading the information of the usagetime of the musical composition stored therein, an illegal usage of themusical composition can be prevented, as well as the proper accountingapproval and the returning of the royalty can be performed for themusical composition that has been used.

In that case, it is only required to arrange that the data broadcastingsignal to be transmitted to the broadcasting station and/or theKaraoke-bar possesses at least a portion including the informationregarding the musical composition itself, another portion including theinformation of the music code corresponding to the musical composition,and still another portion including the information regarding the usagetime of the musical composition. Among these, for the portion includingthe information of the music code corresponding to the musicalcomposition and the portion including the information regarding theusage time, the illegal act (cheating) by the user of the musicalcomposition can be prevented from happening by incorporating the “watermark” into the data broadcasting signal by utilizing the relatedtechnology.

Herein, the respective copyrights of the music in Japan and in theUnited States of America will be illustrated briefly, as well as it willbe described that the complex copyrights can be efficiently processed byutilizing the system of the present invention shown in FIGS. 25 and 33.

In Japan, there are three kinds of copyright owners for the music atlarge:

1. Songwriter, Musical composer, Musical arranger, and Publisher (allare the copyright owners)

2. Artist (the neighboring rights owner)

3. Record producer (the neighboring rights owner)

In order to illustrate the copyrights that might be possessed by theabove mentioned copyrights owners, the musical composition “AkaiSweet-pea” of Seiko Matsuda will be used as an example (the descriptionfor the musical arranger thereof will be omitted for simplification).

1) Genre (Type): Modem Japanese Music

2) Title of the Musical Composition: Akai Sweet-pea

3) Artist: Seiko Matsuda

4) Songwriter: Takashi Matsumoto

5) Musical Composer: Karuho Kureta

6) Produced Date: Jul. 1, 1982

7) Original disc produced place: Japan

8) Original disc producer: Sun Music Publisher

9) Record producer: Sun Music Entertainment

10) Representative Publishing Country: Japan

11) Representative Publisher: Sun Music Publisher

12) Copyright Administrative Organization(s):

-   -   a. Mechanical Rights (option)    -   b. Performing Rights (option)

In this example, the composition has two copyright owners, one for thesongwriting (lyric) and another for the musical composition, and theyare the songwriter Takashi Matsumoto and the music composer KaruhoKureta (known as Yumi Matsutoya, in general). The artist Seiko Matsudais the neighboring rights owner (will be described later).

The songwriter Takashi Matsumoto and the music composer Karuho Kuretahave:

-   A. As the Writer (Author) Personal Rights:-   (a1) Publication Rights;-   (a2) Name Display Rights;

The rights for requesting to display the names of the songwriter/musicalcomposer when the musical composition is to be broadcast on TV.

-   (a3) The Sameness Maintenance Rights

The rights for requesting to not broadcast the parody of the musicalcomposition when it is broadcast on the TV/radio.

-   B. As the Copy (Property) Rights:-   (b1) Reproduction (Reprint) Rights;

Exclusive rights for reproducing the musical composition onto a record,tape, videotape, etc.

-   (b2) Performing Rights;

Exclusive rights for performing the musical composition at aconcert/Karaoke, etc.

-   (b3) Public Transmission Rights;

Exclusive rights for broadcasting, transmitting the musical compositionon TV, radio, the cable broadcast, the internet, etc.

-   (b4) Lending Rights;

Exclusive rights for lending the reproduction of the musical compositionto the public.

-   (b5) Adaptation Rights;

Exclusive rights for translating, arranging, filming the musicalcomposition.

-   (b6) Utility Rights of Secondary Writing

Exclusive rights for utilizing the adapted musical composition.

-   (b7) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment Demanding    Rights;

Rights for demanding the compensation payment regarding the personalreproduction by the digital device.

The artist Seiko Matsuda (and the group of Accompanists of the musicalcomposition) has the following neighboring rights:

-   (c1) Recording/Filming Rights;

Exclusive rights for recording/filming the performance of the artist(s).

-   (c2) Broadcasting/Cable Broadcasting Rights;

Exclusive rights for broadcasting/cable broadcasting the performance ofthe artist(s).

-   (c3) Lending Rights;

Exclusive rights for lending to the public commercial record on whichthe performance is recorded (for one year after the release according tothe regulation).

-   (c4) Transmission Enabling Rights;

Exclusive rights for uploading the performance of the artist(s) to theserver.

-   (c5) Rights to Demand the Secondary Usage Payment of the Commercial    Record;

Rights for demanding the secondary usage payment, when the commercialrecord on which the performance is recorded is to be used for thebroadcast or for the cable broadcast.

-   (c6) Lending Remuneration Demanding Rights;

Rights for demanding the remuneration, when the commercial record onwhich the performance is recorded is used by the lending after havingpast one year since it had been released.

-   (c7) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment Demanding    Rights;

Rights for demanding the compensation payment regarding the personalreproduction by the digital device.

The record producer, i.e., the producer of a master tape (hereinafter,it is referred to as the original disc) has the following neighboringrights the same as the artist(s) does:

-   (d1) Reproduction Rights;

Exclusive Rights for producing a record, video tape, by reproducing theoriginal disc.

-   (d2) Lending Rights;

Exclusive rights for lending to the public the commercial record onwhich the original disc is reproduced (for one year after the releaseaccording to the regulation).

-   (d3) Transmission Enabling Rights;

Exclusive rights for uploading the performance (the reproduction of theoriginal disc) of the artist(s) to the server.

-   (d4) Rights to Demand the Secondary Usage Payment of the Commercial    Record;

Rights for demanding the secondary usage payment, when the commercialrecord on which the original disc is reproduced is to be used for thebroadcast or for the cable broadcast.

-   (d5) Lending Remuneration Demanding Rights;

Rights for demanding remuneration when the commercial record on whichthe original disc is reproduced is used by the lending after having pastone year since it had been released.

-   (d6) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment

Demanding Rights; Rights for demanding the compensation paymentregarding the personal reproduction by the digital device.

Now, returning to FIGS. 25 and 33, the operation of the system of thepresent invention, in particular, the information flow associated withthe copyright will be described.

Consider that when the customer is listening to a music program on theclick radio 5100, the musical composition the “Akai Sweet-pea” of SeikoMatsuda is on air, so the customer inserts the IC card 5000 into theclick radio 5100 and stores the music code 081AMDM029998 of the musicalcomposition “Akai Sweet-pea” into the memory of the IC card 5000 byclicking the acquisition button (for the simplicity, it is assumed thatonly one musical composition is stored).

Then, the customer brings the IC card 5000 to the store 5200 and thenapplies for the compilation MD production by inserting the IC card 5000into the IC card-reader of the “AAS” 5201. The control unit 5202 sendsthe signal including the information of the music code 081AMDM029998read by the IC card-reader to the host-computer 5302 of the backchannelcompany 5300 through the communication systems 5203, 5301.

In the host-computer 5302 that received the signal, at first therequested musical composition discriminating unit 5314 retrieves themusical composition databases 5303, 5304 based on the information of themusic code 081AMDM029998, and then evaluates whether or not therequested musical composition has already been registered in the system.Here, it is assumed to be evaluated as “having already been registered”.Next, the musical composition usage purpose determining unit 5315determines the usage purpose of the requested musical composition basedon the information of the musical composition usage purpose included inthe signal. Herein, since the information of “a personal recording tothe MD” has been added when the signal was being sent from the store5200, it is determined that the musical composition usage purpose is “apersonal recording to the MD”. Then, the applicable copyright relatedinformation decision unit 5318, obtains the following information,

(3) Artist: Seiko Matsuda

(4) Songwriter: Takashi Matsumoto

(5) Musical Composer: Karuho Kureta

(6) Produced Date: Jul. 1, 1982

(7) Original disc produced place: Japan

(8) Original disc producer: Sun Music Publisher

(9) Record producer: Sun Music Entertainment

among the above information by retrieving the musical compositiondatabases 5303, 5304 based on the information of the musical compositionusage purpose “a personal recording to the MD”, and evaluates theinformation of:

1. The rights associated with the copyright which the songwriter TakashiMatsumoto and the music composer Karuho Kureta have, i.e.,

-   -   (a1) Publication Rights;    -   (a2) Name Display Rights;    -   (a3) The Sameness Maintenance Rights;    -   (b1) Reproduction (Reprint) Rights;    -   (b2) Performing Rights;    -   (b3) Public Transmission Rights;    -   (b4) Lending Rights;    -   (b5) Adaptation Rights;    -   (b6) Utility Rights of Secondary Writing;    -   (b7) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment Demanding        Rights;

2. The rights associated with the neighboring rights which the artistSeiko Matsuda has, i.e.,

-   -   (c1) Recording/Filming Rights;    -   (c2) Broadcasting/Cable Broadcasting Rights;    -   (c3) Lending Rights;    -   (c4) Transmission Enabling Rights;    -   (c5) Rights to Demand the Secondary Usage Payment of the        Commercial Record;    -   (c6) Lending Remuneration Demanding Rights;    -   (c7) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment Demanding        Rights;

3. The rights associated with the neighboring rights which the SONYmusic entertainment, i.e., the record producer, has;

-   -   (d1) Reproduction Rights;    -   (d2) Lending Rights;    -   (d3) Transmission Enabling Rights;    -   (d4) Rights to Demand the Secondary Usage Payment of the        Commercial Record;    -   (d5) Lending Remuneration Demanding Rights;    -   (d6) Personal Recording/Filming Compensation Payment Demanding        Rights; by retrieving the copyright associated databases 5305,        5036.

Herein, it is assumed that the usage registration by the broadcastingbusiness has already been made through the I/O device 5313 prior tobroadcasting the music program on the radio.

Among the copyright associated information described above, theappropriate rights are evaluated by the applicable copyright relatedinformation decision unit 5318, based on the information of the “apersonal recording to the MD”.

Next, the musical composition usage time counting unit 5316 counts thenumber of times for which the musical composition is used. Theaccounting and royalty decision unit 5319 retrieves the accountingapproval database 5311 based on the information resulted from thecounting by the musical composition usage time counting unit 5316 andthe information of the rights associated with the copyright evaluated bythe applicable copyright related information decision unit 5318,calculates the accounting and royalty, and sends the calculated resultto the store 5200 through the communication system 5301, as well asoutputs the information regarding the royalty to the respectivecopyright owners, and the respective agents through the I/O device 5313.

In the above example, the copyrights listed are effective only withinJapan; thus it is only necessary to consider the following informationrelating to Japanese Copyright Law with respect to the copyright law. Ingeneral, the copyright of music in Japan is managed by JASRAC (theJapanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers).JASRAC, as entrusted by the music copyright owners, permits autilization of the music to a user thereof, collects and distributes theusage fee of the writings. Accordingly, if all of the copyright ownerswere the registered members of JASRAC, the respective right itemsdescribed above (a1) to (d6) can be simplified as “JASRAC registeredmembers”, thus the operations/functions of the applicable copyrightrelated information decision unit 5318 and the accounting and royaltydecision unit 5319 can be simplified.

In the following, a copyright in the United States of America(hereinafter, it is referred to as a U.S. copyright) will be brieflydescribed. Five different rights as listed below can categorize the U.S.copyright:

1. The right to reproduce;

2. The right to distribute;

3. The right to prepare derivative works;

4. The right to perform; and

5. The right to display.

In a U.S. copyright, the rights corresponding to the Writer (Author)Personal Rights (not defined in the text of the Law) and the Neighboringrights of the Japanese Copyright Law are not included.

Herein, a U.S. copyright of music will be described by comparing it witha Japanese copyright.

In Japan, the subject of the copyright, i.e., the writing, is themusical composition (the lyric and the melody); thus, the songwriter andthe musical composer have the copyright, as well as the recordingproducer and the artist have the neighboring rights. On the other hand,in the U.S., the subject of the copyright, i.e., the production, is arecord, and the copyright is considered practically as described below.

Publisher (representing the songwriter/musical composer) has, for therecords,

-   (f1) Performance Rights (performing rights);-   (f2) Mechanical Rights (a kind of reproducing rights);

The rights for recording.

-   (f3) Synchronization Rights (a kind of the adaptation rights);

The rights for combining with the images in the CM, motion pictures andvideos.

-   (f4) Publication Rights (a kind of the publishing rights);

The rights for publishing the music score, etc.

Recording Company has, for the records,

-   (g1) The Rights regarding the sound recording;-   (g2) Performance Rights (limited to the digital items).

Now, consider the music composition “LIVIN' ON A PRAYER” by Bon Jovi, asan example.

1) Genre (Type): Western Music

2) Title of the Musical Composition: LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

3) Sub-Title: none

4) Japanese Title: . . .

5) Artist: Bon Jovi

6) Songwriter: Bon Jovi (ASCAP)

-   -   Sambora Richard (ASCAP)    -   Child Desmond (ASCAP)

7) Musical Composer: Bon Jovi (ASCAP)

-   -   Sambora Richard (ASCAP)    -   Child Desmond (ASCAP)

8) Produced Date: 1986

9) Original disc produced place: United States of America

10) First issued place: United States of America

11) Original disc right owner: Polygram Records, Inc.

12) Licensee: Polygram Music Japan, Inc.

13) Original Publisher: Bon Jovi Publishing

-   -   Aggressive Music    -   Desmobile Inc.

14) First Sub-Publisher: Polygram International Publishing Inc.

-   -   EMI April Music Inc.

15) Sub-Publisher: Polygram Music Japan, Inc.

-   -   Shinko Music Publishing Co., Ltd.

Bon Jovi as the songwriter/musical composer enters into a contract withthe publisher (for example, with the Original Publisher such as he BonJovi Publishing, etc and with the First sub-publisher such as thePolygram International Publishing Inc., etc. The publisher has, asdescribed above, for the musical composition of the Bon Jovi,

-   -   (f1) Performance Rights;    -   (f2) Mechanical Rights;    -   (f3) Synchronization Rights; and    -   (f4) Publication Rights.

On the other hand, Bon Jovi as the artist, enters into a contact withthe recording company (for example, the Polygram, Inc.). The recordingcompany has,

-   -   (g1) The Rights regarding the sound recording; and    -   (g2) Performance Rights (limited to the digital items).

In the U.S., generally, the performance rights are administered by theorganization such as the ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and the like, and theadministrative organization collects the royalty (royalties) from the TVstation, the radio station, the nightclub, and the like. Thesynchronization rights are administered by the publisher, and themechanical rights are administered either by the publisher themselves orby the Harry Fox Agency (hereinafter, it is referred to as Harry Fox)and the like.

Harry Fox is a part of the NMPA (National Music Publishers Association)and conducts the copyright administration, and represents more than13,000 publishers. For the mechanical rights, a predetermined amount offee is collected for each record according to Section 115 of the U.S.Copyright Law. Accordingly, for mechanical rights, Harry Fox collectsthe predetermined amount of fee from the recording company, and handlesit to the publisher, and then the publisher pays to the songwriter/musiccomposer in accordance with the contract.

On the other hand, the synchronization rights are evaluated by thenegotiation basis. Further, the artist receives the artist royalty onthe negotiation basis for one record each from the recording company.

As described above, the contents of the copyright for the music differfrom each country. Accordingly, the royalties should be returned to asongwriter, a musical composer, a musical arranger, and an artist are,in principle, dependent on the contents of rights which the respectiveright owners have as defined by the copyright of the respectivecountries.

However, in practice, large numbers of the songwriters, the musicalcomposers, the musical arrangers, and the artists who are not associatedwith the specific agents such as the publishers, the recordingcompanies, the entertainment productions, and it is arranged so thatthese agents act as the representative for these people and pay theroyalties to the respective songwriters, musical composers, musicalarrangers, artists who are the applicable right owners.

For services conducted by the agents such as the recording companies,the publishers and the like, specific rights occur as described above,and royalties are paid to the respective agents depending on theirservices.

In case of the songwriters, the musical composers, the musicalarrangers, and the artists who are not associated with these agents suchas described above, they will independently negotiate with the users forthe royalties, based on the rights they have respectively.

Herein, it will describe about the case of “recording to the MD” themusical composition of Bon Jovi, again, by using the system of thepresent invention shown in FIGS. 25 and 33.

Consider that when the customer is listening to a music program on theclick radio 5100, the musical composition “LIVIN' ON A PRAYER” of BonJovi is on air, so that the customer inserts the IC card 5000 into theclick radio 5100 and stores the music code of the musical composition“LIVIN' ON A PRAYER ” into the memory of the IC card 5000 by clickingthe acquisition button installed in the click radio 5100 (forsimplicity, it is assumed that only one musical composition is stored,similar to the previous example).

Then, the customer brings the IC card 5000 to the store 5200 and appliesfor the compilation MD production by inserting the IC card 5000 into theIC card-reader of the “AAS” 5201. The control unit 5202 sends the signalincluding the information of the music code read by the IC card-readerto the host-computer 5302 of the backchannel company 5300 through thecommunication systems 5203, 5301.

In the host-computer 5302 that received the signal, at first therequested musical composition discriminating unit 5314 retrieves themusical composition databases 5303, 5304 based on the information of themusic code, and then evaluates whether or not the requested musicalcomposition has already been registered in the system. Here, it isassumed to be evaluated as “having already been registered”. Next, themusical composition usage purpose determining unit 5315 determines theusage purpose of the requested musical composition based on theinformation of the musical composition usage purpose included in thesignal. Herein, since the information of “a personal recording to theMD” has been added when the signal was being sent from the store 5200,it is determined that the musical composition usage purpose is “apersonal recording to the MD”. Then, the applicable copyright relatedinformation decision unit 5318, obtains the following information,

-   -   5) Artist: Bon Jovi    -   6) Songwriter: Bon Jovi (ASCAP)        -   Sambora Richard (ASCAP)        -   Child Desmond (ASCAP)    -   7) Musical Composer: Bon Jovi (ASCAP)        -   Sambora Richard (ASCAP)        -   Child Desmond (ASCAP)    -   8) Produced Date: 1986    -   9) Original disc produced place: United States of America    -   10) First issued place: United States of America    -   11) Original disc right owner: Polygram Records, Inc.    -   12) Licensee: Polygram Music Japan, Inc.    -   13) Original Publisher: Bon Jovi Publishing        -   Aggressive Music        -   Desmobile Inc.    -   14) First Sub-Publisher: Polygram International Publishing Inc.        -   EMI April Music Inc.    -   15) Sub-Publisher: Polygram Music Japan, Inc.        -   Shinko Music Publishing Co., Ltd.            among the above information by retrieving the musical            composition databases 5303, 5304 based on the information of            the musical composition usage purpose “a personal recording            to the MD”, and evaluates the information of

1. the rights associated with the copyright of which the publisher has,i.e.,

-   -   (f1) Performance Rights (performing rights);    -   (f2) Mechanical Rights (a kind of reproducing rights);    -   (f3) Synchronization Rights (a kind of the adaptation rights);    -   (f4) Publication Rights (a kind of the publishing rights); and

2. the rights associated with the copyright of which the recordingcompany has, i.e.,

-   -   (g1) Rights regarding the sound recording;    -   (g2) Performance Rights (limited to the digital items),        by retrieving the copyright associated databases 5305, 5306.        Herein, it is assumed that the usage registration by the        broadcasting business has already been made through the I/O        device 5313 prior to broadcasting the music program on the        radio.

Among the copyright associated information described above, theappropriate rights are evaluated by the applicable copyright relatedinformation decision unit 5318, based on the information of the “apersonal recording to the MD”.

Next, the musical composition usage time counting unit 5316 counts thenumber of times for which the musical composition is used. Theaccounting and royalty decision unit 5319 retrieves the accountingapproval database 5311 based on the information resulted from thecounting by the musical composition usage time counting unit 5316 andthe information of the rights associated with the copyright evaluated bythe applicable copyright related information decision unit 5318,calculates the accounting and royalty, and sends the calculated resultto the store 5200 through the communication system 5301, as well asoutputs the information regarding the royalty to the respectivecopyright owners, and the respective agents, herein they are thepublishers and the recording companies of the Unites States of Americasince it is related to the U.S. Copyright, through the I/O device 5313,by utilizing the Internet and the like.

In case of the musical composition of Bon Jovi, since the recordingcompany and the publisher which administer the musical composition ofBon Jovi reside in Japan, it is only necessary to send the calculatedresults of the royalties to these agents in Japan.

On the other hand, in case of no agent and recording company residing inJapan for the musical composition that is desirable to obtain a usagepermit, the usage permit of the musical composition can be easilyimplemented and the payment procedure of the royalties to the copyrightowners for the use of the musical composition can be properly made, byusing the system of the present invention, under the condition that themusical composition has already been registered in advance. Furthermore,in case of the musical composition having not been registered yet, theusage permit of the musical composition can be obtained by requestingthe copyright owner(s) to register the musical composition from the I/Odevice according to the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram showing a sixth embodiment of thepurchasing system according to the present invention. The sixthembodiment is similar to the fifth embodiment except that the MD isproduced in the KIOSK rather than in the backchannel company.Accordingly, the prerequisites of the sixth embodiment are identical tothe ones of the fifth embodiment, and thus we do not describe them here.

As shown in FIG. 34, the main parts of the purchasing system in thisembodiment are composed of an IC card 6000, a click radio 6100, a store6200, a backchannel company 6300, and a broadcasting station 6400.

The IC (Integrated Circuit) card 6000 is constituted of a centralprocessing unit (CPU) and a memory (e.g., EPROM) (not shown), and theinformation regarding the membership registration number by registeringthe membership (or the identification number) is to be stored into thememory of the IC card 6000.

The click radio 6100 is constituted of a data broadcasting receiver6101, a data broadcasting decoder 6102 connected to the databroadcasting receiver 6101, and a controller 6103 connected to both ofthe data broadcasting receiver 6101 and the data broadcasting decoder6102. The data broadcasting receiver 6101 includes a FM/AM broadcastingreceiving function for receiving a plurality of music broadcastingprograms being broadcast from the various broadcasting stations. Thedata broadcasting decoder 6102 reproduces analog music signals bydigital-to-analog converting digital signals of the music broadcastingprogram(s) as well as reproduces the music codes by decoding the databroadcasting signals corresponding to the digital signals of the musicbroadcasting program(s) both of which are received by the databroadcasting receiver 6101. The controller controls both of the databroadcasting receiver 6101 and the data broadcasting decoder 6102 inorder to store the reproduced music codes corresponding to the musicalcompositions in the music program(s) being broadcast from thebroadcasting station 6400 into the memory of the IC card 6000 bypressing the acquisition button installed in the click radio 6100 whilethe customer is listening to the reproduced music program(s) on air.

As shown in FIG. 34, the store 6200 is the KIOSK, and includes a MDproduction application accepting system 6201 (as before, it is referredto as the “AAS” hereinafter) which is composed of a monitor, an ICcard-reader, and a database retrieval/application terminal (not shown),a store side database 6205 connected to the AAS 6201 and composed of amusical composition list database 6202, a musical composition datadatabase 6203 and an index database 6204, a MD writer 6206 connected tothe store side database 6205, a printer 6207 connected to the store sidedatabase 6205, a controller 6208 connected to the AAS 6201, acommunication system 6209 connected to the controller 6208, a databroadcasting receiving system 6210, and a data broadcasting decoder 110connected to both the data broadcasting receiving system 6210 and thestore side database 6205.

The backchannel company 6300 includes a communication system 6301connected to the communication system 6209 of the store 6200 via atelephone line, a server-client system (hereinafter, it is referred toas the “host-computer”) 6302 connected to the communication system 6301,a music database 6307 connected to the host-computer 6302 and composedof a musical composition list database 6303, a musical composition datadatabase 6304, an index database 6305 as well as a copy right database6306, and a company side database 6310 connected to the host-computer6302 and composed of a customer database 6308 as well as an accountingapproval database 6309.

The broadcasting station 6400 includes a communication system 6401connected to the communication system 6301 in the backchannel company6300 through the satellite wave and the like, a broadcasting datadatabase 6402 connected to the communication system 6401, a broadcastingdata sending server 6403 connected to the broadcasting data database6402, and a data broadcasting encoder 6404 connected to the databroadcasting receive 6102 of the click radio 6100 through thebroadcasting data sending server 6403 and the satellite wave.

In the following, referring to FIGS. 9, 10, 31, 32 and 33, an operationof the purchasing system shown in FIG. 34 will be described in detail.

However, among the following steps, the detailed descriptions of theones which are the same as the steps described in the fifth are omitted;

-   6-1. IC Card Acquisition Step-   6-2. Membership Recognition Step-   6-3. Acquisition Musical Composition Display Step-   6-4. Musical Composition Editing Step-   6-4.1. Sorting of Musical Compositions-   6-4.2. Musical Composition Testing Confirmation Step-   6-4.3. Deletion of Musical Compositions-   6-4.4 Addition of Musical Compositions-   6-4.5. Jacket Design Selection-   6-4.6. Album Title Entry-   6-5. Final Verification Step-   6-6. Payment Step    6-7. MD Production Step    6-7.1. MD Disc Production Work

This step as performed in this embodiment is identical to the MD discproduction step described previously regarding the second embodiment andFIG. 16, wherein the recording is implemented in a KIOSK, that is, in astore 6200 such as a convenience store or a gas station and the like.However, with respect to this embodiment, reference should be made tothe musical composition data database 6202 in the store side database6205 is searched and the MD writer 6206.

6-7.2. Jacket Production Work

This step as performed in the store 6200 in this embodiment is identicalto the MD jacket production work step described previously regarding thefirst embodiment and FIG. 10. However, with respect to this embodiment,reference should be made to the printer 6207, the musical compositionlist database 6202 in the store side database 6205 and the indexdatabase 6204.

When the above mentioned MD disc production work and the above mentionedjacket production work are completed, the customer could obtain thedesired MD at the store 6200 such as a KIOSK and the like.

6-8. Transmission Step

After having completed the above mentioned payment step, the “MUSIC CODEGROUP A”, “CARD DATA D” and “CUSTOMER CODE E”, which have been producedas described above, are transmitted to the host-computer 6302 which isprovided in the backchannel company 6300 through the communicationsystem 6209, the telephone line and the communication system 6301, asshown in FIG. 34.

The following steps are also omitted since they are similar to the onesin the fifth embodiment;

-   6-9. Backchannel Company's Work Step-   6-9.1. Accounting Approval-   6-9.2. Copyright Process    6-10. Musical Composition Database Update Step

This step as performed in this embodiment is identical to the musicalcomposition database update step described previously regarding thesecond embodiment. However, with respect to this embodiment, referenceshould be made to the broadcasting station 6400, the store 6200, thebackchannel company 6300, the musical composition list database 6303,the musical composition data database 6304 and the index database 6305of the music database 6307, the host-computer 6302, the communicationsystem 6301, the communication system 6401, the broadcasting datadatabase 6402, broadcasting data sending server 6403, the databroadcasting encoder 6404, the data broadcasting receiving system 6210in the store 6200, the data broadcasting decoder 6211, the musicalcomposition list database 6202, and the musical composition datadatabase 6203 and the index database 6204 in the store side database6205.

Accordingly, the purchasing system according to the present embodimentis so configured that the newest music information is always stored inthe store 6200, and thus it could respond to the needs for thecustomers.

As described above, the usage permit of the musical compositions ofdomestic as well as of all over the world can be easily implemented, aswell as the payment procedure of the royalties to the copyright ownersfor the usage of the musical compositions can be easily and accuratelymade in the global scale by using the system of the present invention.

In the above embodiments, the IC card is applied for the portable typeclick radio, but the type of the radio is not limited to the portabletype click radio. The type of radio could be an automobile (car) radioof the IC card applicable type or a stationary radio at home or atoffice of the IC card applicable type and the like. The system accordingto the present invention can be adapted for a use with a TV set of theIC card applicable type and/or a personal computer (desktop,notebook-size, etc.) of the IC card applicable type as well.

The system of the present invention can be adapted for a musical programthat is to be broadcast through air (i.e., wireless radio waves) orthrough the cables from the TV and/or radio broadcasting stations.

FIG. 35 shows another embodiment of the music database according to thepresent invention, configured as similar to the one shown in FIG. 11,with some additional features which will be described in detail below.Since the basic components are similar to the ones shown in FIG. 11, thesubstantial parts shown in FIG. 35 are almost the same, but the contentsthereof are different as can be seen in the following descriptions.

The music database of the present embodiment includes five categories of(1) the music attribution, (2) the original disc right, (3) thecopyright, (4) the music score, and (5) the sound source, as shown inFIG. 35. In the following, each of the categories will be described indetail, but these details are not shown in FIG. 35 because of the volumeof the database is quite large. Thus the only the substantial parts ofthe contents are shown in FIG. 35, but each substantial part includesthe layers described below, with the same numerals shown in FIG. 35. Inother words, the music database in this embodiment should be configuredwith the following layers.

(1) Music Attribution

(1)-1 music code: only code allocated for a specific musicalcomposition. For example, to the musical composition of a new version, anew and entirely different code is allocated for the same musicalcomposition with a new version. Furthermore, the musical compositionremixed-down with the same musical material is considered to be adifferent musical composition and thus a new code is allocated therefor.

(1)-2 name of musical composition; domestic name/international name

(1)-3 minutes for musical composition

(1)-4 artist data

a) main artist

-   -   a-1) main artist code; code representative of the main artist(s)        who sings/plays the musical composition.    -   a-2) main artist name; name of the main artist(s) who        sings/plays the musical composition.    -   a-3) code representative of the company to which the main        artist(s) belong; a company code when the artist(s) is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   a-4) name representative of the company to which the main        artist(s) belong; a company name when the artist(s) is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   a-5) code representative of the organization to which the main        artist(s) belongs or to which the company associated with the        artist(s) belongs; code of the organization to which the        artist(s) belongs as an individual artist, or to which the        company belongs when the artist(s) is associated with the        company but not as an individual artist.    -   a-6) name representative of the organization to which the main        artist(s) belongs or to which the company associated with the        artist(s) belongs; name of the organization to which the        artist(s) belongs as an individual.

b) secondary artist

-   -   b-1) secondary artist code; code representative of the secondary        artist(s) who sings/plays the musical composition.    -   b-2) secondary artist name; name of the secondary artist(s) who        sings/plays the musical composition.    -   b-3) code representative of the company to which the secondary        artist(s) belong; a company code when the artist(s) is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   b-4) name representative of the company to which the secondary        artist(s) belong; a company name when the artist(s) is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   b-5) code representative of the organization to which the        secondary artist(s) belongs or to which the company associated        with the artist(s) belongs; code of the organization to which        the artist(s) belongs as an individual artist, or to which the        company belongs when the artist(s) is associated with the        company but not as an individual artist.    -   b-6) name representative of the organization to which the        secondary artist(s) belongs or to which the company associated        with the artist(s) belongs; name of the organization to which        the artist(s) belongs as an individual.

c) engineer staff

-   -   c-1) engineer staff code; code representative of the mixer        engineer staff who produces the present musical composition.    -   c-2) engineer staff name; name of the engineer staff who        produces the musical composition.    -   c-3) code representative of the company to which the engineer        staff belong; a company code when the engineer staff is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   c-4) name representative of the company to which the engineer        staff belongs; a company name when the engineer staff is not        independently active but belongs to some company(s).    -   c-5) code representative of the organization to which the        engineer staff belongs or to which the company associated with        the engineer staff belongs; code of the organization to which        the engineer staff belongs as an individual staff, or to which        the company belongs when the engineer staff is associated with        the company but not as an individual engineer staff.    -   c-6) name representative of the organization to which the        engineer staff belongs or to which the company associated with        the engineer staff belongs; name of the organization to which        the engineer staff belongs as an individual.

(2) Information Concerning Original Disc Right

(2)-1 representative original disc owner code: code of an owner of themusical composition.

(2)-2 representative original disc owner name: name of an owner of themusical composition

(2)-3 representative original disc owner-company code: code of thecompany which owns the musical composition, or the company which entersinto a contract with the owner.

(2)-4 representative original disc owner company name: name of thecompany which owns the musical composition, or the company which entersinto a contract with the owner.

(2)-5 code representative of the organization to which therepresentative original disc owner belongs or to which the companyassociated with the representative original disc owner belongs; code ofthe organization to which the representative original disc owner belongsas an individual, or to which the company belongs when therepresentative original disc owner is associated with the company butnot as an individual.

(2)-6 name representative of the organization to which therepresentative original disc owner belongs or to which the companyassociated with the representative original disc owner belongs; name ofthe organization to which the representative original disc owner belongsas an individual, or to which the company belongs when therepresentative original disc owner is associated with the company butnot as an individual.

(2)-7 licensee code; code representative of the company of which therepresentative original disc owner enters into a contact as a companywhich carries on a business for the original disc in a territory otherthan the ones in which the representative original disc owner has aright to exercise the original disc right.

(2)-8 licensee name; name representative of the company of which therepresentative original disc owner enters into a contact as a companywhich carries on a business for the original disc in a territory otherthan the ones in which the representative original disc owner has aright to exercise the original disc right.

(2)-9 co-owner code of the original disc: code representative of anco-owner who co-owns the musical composition with the representativeoriginal disc owner or with the representative publisher.

(2)-10 co-owner name of the original disc: name representative of aco-owner who co-owns the musical composition with the representativeoriginal disc owner or with the representative publisher.

(2)-11 co-owner company code of the original disc: code representativeof the company which co-owns the musical composition, or the companywhich enters into a contract with the co-owner.

(2)-12 co-owner company name of the original disc: name representativeof the company which co-owns the musical composition, or the companywhich enters into a contract with the co-owner.

(2)-13 organization code to which the original disc co-owner belongs orto which the company associated with the original disc co-owner belongs:code representative of the organization to which the original discco-owner belongs as an individual, or to which the company belongs whenthe original disc co-owner is associated with the company but not as anindividual.

(2)-14 organization name to which the original disc co-owner belongs orto which the company associated with the original disc co-owner belongs:name representative of the organization to which the original discco-owner belongs as an individual, or to which the company belongs whenthe original disc co-owner is associated with the company but not as anindividual.

(3) Information Concerning Copyright Songwriter

(3)-1 main songwriter code: code representative of the one(s) who mainlyconducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-2 main songwriter name: name representative of the one(s) who mainlyconducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-3 representative original publisher code: code representative of theoriginal publisher which enters into a contract with the songwriter.

(3)-4 representative original publisher name: name representative of theoriginal publisher which enters into a contract with the songwriter.

(3)-5 a first organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the main songwriter belongs.

(3)-6 a first organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the main songwriter belongs. [note:the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-7 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main songwriter enters into a contract withthe original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-8 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main songwriter enters into a contract withthe original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-9 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-10 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-11 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-12 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-13 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-14 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-15 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs.

(3)-16 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-17 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-18 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-19 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-20 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

(3)-21 co-songwriter code: code representative of a co-songwriter whoco-operates with the main songwriter in the songwriting.

(3)-22 co-songwriter name: name representative of a co-songwriter whoco-operates with the main songwriter in the songwriting company whichenters into a contract with the co-owner.

(3)-23 representative the original publisher code: code of therepresentative publisher to which the co-songwriter enters into acontract.

(3)-24 representative the original publisher name: name of therepresentative publisher to which the co-songwriter enters into acontract.

(3)-25 first organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-songwriter belongs. [note:the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-26 first organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-songwriter belongs. [note:the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-27 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-songwriter enters into a contract with theoriginal publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rightsmight be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-28 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-songwriter enters into a contract with theoriginal publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rightsmight be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-29 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-30 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-31 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-32 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-33 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-34 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-35 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-36 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-37 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-38 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-39 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-40 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

Musical Composer

(3)-41 main musical composer code: code representative of the one(s) whomainly conducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-42 main musical composer name: name representative of the one(s) whomainly conducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-43 representative original publisher code: code representative ofthe original publisher which enters into a contract with the musicalcomposer.

(3)-44 representative original publisher name: name representative ofthe original publisher which enters into a contract with the musicalcomposer.

(3)-45 a first organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the main musical composer belongs.

(3)-46 a first organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the main musical composer belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-47 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main musical composer enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-48 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main musical composer enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-49 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-50 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-51 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-52 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-53 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-54 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-55 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs.

(3)-56 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-57 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-58 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-59 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-60 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

(3)-61 co-musical composer code: code representative of a co-musicalcomposer who co-operates with the main musical composer in thesongwriting.

(3)-62 co-musical composer name: name representative of a co-musicalcomposer who co-operates with the main musical composer in thesongwriting.

(3)-63 representative the original publisher code: code of therepresentative publisher to which the co-musical composer enters into acontract.

(3)-64 representative the original publisher name: name of therepresentative publisher to which the co-musical composer enters into acontract.

(3)-65 first organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-musical composer belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-66 first organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-musical composer belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-67 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-musical composer enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-68 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-musical composer enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-69 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-70 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-71 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-72 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-73 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-74 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-75 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-76 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-77 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-78 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-79 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs;[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-80 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

Musical Arranger

(3)-81 main musical arranger code: code representative of the one(s) whomainly conducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-82 main musical arranger name: name representative of the one(s) whomainly conducts the songwriting of the musical composition.

(3)-83 representative original publisher code: code representative ofthe original publisher which enters into a contract with the musicalarranger.

(3)-84 representative original publisher name: name representative ofthe original publisher which enters into a contract with the musicalarranger.

(3)-85 a first organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the main musical arranger belongs.

(3)-86 a first organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the main musical arranger belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-87 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main musical arranger enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-88 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the main musical arranger enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-89 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-90 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-91 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-92 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-93 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-94 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisher ofwhich the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-95 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs.

(3)-96 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs.

[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-97 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-98 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-99 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-100 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

(3)-101 co-musical arranger code: code representative of a co-musicalarranger who co-operates with the main musical arranger in thesongwriting.

(3)-102 co-musical arranger name: name representative of a co-musicalarranger who co-operates with the main musical arranger in thesongwriting company which enters into a contract with the co-owner.

(3)-103 representative the original publisher code: code of therepresentative publisher to which the co-musical arranger enters into acontract.

(3)-104 representative the original publisher name: name of therepresentative publisher to which the co-musical arranger enters into acontract.

(3)-105 first organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-musical arranger belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-106 first organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the co-musical arranger belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-107 a second organization code; code representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-musical arranger enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-108 a second organization name; name representative of theadministrative organization to which the representative originalpublisher belongs when the co-musical arranger enters into a contractwith the original publisher. [note: the mechanical rights and performingrights might be administered by different organizations separately]

(3)-109 code of the original music co-publisher: code representative ofa co-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters intoa contract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-110 name of the original co-publisher: name representative of aco-publisher to whom the representative original publisher enters into acontract of co-owning the publishing right.

(3)-111 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs.

(3)-112 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the original co-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-113 first sub-publisher code; code representative of the publisherof which the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-114 first sub-publisher name; name representative of the publisherof which the original publisher enters into a contact of allowing thepublisher to exercise the publishing right in a territory other than theones in which the original publisher has a right to exercise thepublishing right thereof.

(3)-115 organization code: code representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-116 organization name: name representative of the administrativeorganization to which the first sub-publisher belongs. [note: themechanical rights and performing rights might be administered bydifferent organizations separately]

(3)-117 secondary sub-publisher code; code representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the coderepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-118 secondary sub-publisher name; name representative of thesecondary sub-publisher of which the first publisher enters into acontact of allowing the secondary sub-publisher to exercise thepublishing right in the specific area (areas) or country (countries) ifthe first publisher exist. Otherwise, it represents the namerepresentative of the secondary sub-publisher of which the originalpublisher enters into a contact of allowing the secondary sub-publisherto exercise the publishing right in a territory other than the ones inwhich the original publisher has a right to exercise the publishingright thereof.

(3)-119 administrative organization code: code representative of theadministrative organization to which secondary sub-publisher belongs.[note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might be administeredby different organizations separately]

(3)-120 administrative organization name: name representative of theadministrative organization to which the secondary sub-publisherbelongs. [note: the mechanical rights and performing rights might beadministered by different organizations separately]

(4) Music Score

(4)-1 MIDI data

(4)-2 Live music score

(4)-3 Words (Lyric)

(5) Sound Source

(5)-1 Digital sound source

It is apparent that the above described items are not limited to theones as shown. Further expansion will be easily made if necessary. Thiscondition will be equally applicable for any lists described in thisdocument, unless otherwise so specified.

FIG. 36 shows a display menu on the display monitor of the system. Thedisplay menu, so-called “the retrieval screen”, is constituted of thefollowing items:

A: Genre of Titles

A-1. Title of Musical Composition

A-2. Title of Western Music

A-3. Title of Modem Japanese Music

A-4. Other

B: Genre of Personal Names

B-1. Name(s) of Artist(s)

B-2. Name(s) of Songwriter(s)

B-3. Name(s) of Musical Composer(s)

B-4. Name(s) of Musical Arranger(s)

B-5. Other

C: Genre of Corporations

C-1. Name(s) of Recording Company (Companies)

C-2. Name(s) of Publisher(s)

C-3. Name(s) of Entertainment Production(s)

C-4. Other

D: Genre of Organizations

D-1. JASRAC (Japan)

D-2. BMI (U.S.A.)

D-3. ASCAP (U.S.A.)

D-4. MCPS (U.K.)

D-5. SDRM (France)

D-6. Other

E: Date of Production

E-1. Year

E-2. Month

E-3. Day

The above items can be entered using a keyboard or other type of theinput device such as an electronic pen by the user of the system at atime when the user accesses the system by inserting the IC card into theIC card-reader installed in the system. The user is identified by thisprocedure. At the same time, it may arrange to identify the equipment ofwhich the user log-in the system in order to avoid an unauthorized useof the IC-card and/or the equipment.

By entering the applicable items on the “retrieval screen”, i.e., byentering the attributes of the musical composition, the ISRC thereof isspecified. Once the ISRC is specified, then the “Permission File” andthe “Charging Rate & Fee File” (both of which are described below inmore details) are automatically linked in accordance with the specifiedISRC.

Then, the menu on the display screen changes to the “initial menu” suchas shown in FIGS. 37 a, 37 b, or 37 c, depending on a type of the useras identified by the above process through the information stored in thememory of the IC card.

When the identified user is a business user, such as a Radiobroadcasting station, the menu on the screen changes to the initial menufor the business user as shown in FIG. 37 a, which includes theselection items of:

1. Musical Composition Retrieval

2. Application of Broadcasting Use

3. Purchase of Musical Score

4. Application of Performance

5. Application of Synchronization

6. Application of Alteration.

When the identified user is a general user, such as a college student,the menu on the screen changes to the initial menu for the general useras shown in FIG. 37 b, which includes the selection items of:

1. Musical Composition Retrieval

2. Purchase of Musical Composition

3. Purchase of Musical Score

4. Purchase of MIDI DATA.

When the identified user is a rightful claimant, such as a publisher,the menu on the screen changes to the initial menu for the rightfulclaimant as shown in FIG. 37 c, which includes the selection items of:

1. Alteration of Permission Content

2. Alteration of Charging Rate & Fee Content

3. Alteration of Right Content

Application of New Writing.

FIG. 38 shows the content of the Permission File to be used for thesystem of the present invention. FIG. 39 shows the content of theCharging Rate & Fee File also to be used for the system of the presentinvention. In the following, the respective items of the PermissionFile, as well as the respective items of the Charging Rate & Fee Filewill be listed with the detailed explanations.

Permission File:

1. Key code: Music Code (=ISRC code)

2. Genre A: Audition

When retrieving the musical composition, or when purchasing the musicalcomposition, it is flagged whether the audition can be implemented for afull chorus, one chorus, or specific seconds.

A1 Business Use

A1-1 full chorus

A1-2 one chorus

A1-3 45 seconds

-   -   A1-4 60 seconds

(other variations of time)

A2 Personal Use

A2-1 full chorus

A2-2 one chorus

A2-3 45 seconds

A2-4 60 seconds

(other variations of time)

3. Genre B: Purchase of Musical Composition Audition:

Preparing for flag areas corresponding to a variety of services whichwill be generated in future.

B1 Business Use: Distributing the Sound Source to the local FM radiobroadcasting stations coupling to the Broadcasting Use of Genre F asshown below.

B2 Personal Use: Subdivided into further segments in future (response tothe desires of customers, artists, etc.) [existing recording permit]

B2-1 Juke box: Listening only once=no accumulation/recording can be made(distinguish it in a view point of the audition of A being free ofcharge).

B2-2 CD: Applying a group of the favorite musical compositions using theInternet at home, and then the CD recorded with the favorite musicalcompositions is delivered to the home, or delivered to the record shopnearby.

B2-3 MD: Applying a group of the favorite musical compositions using theInternet at home, and then the MD recorded with the favorite musicalcompositions is delivered to the home, or delivered to the record shopnearby.

B2-4 CD-R: Applying a group of the favorite musical compositions usingthe Internet at home, and the Music Sources are downloaded, and thenrecorded/fixed on the CD at home.

B2-5 MD-R: Applying a group of the favorite musical compositions usingthe Internet at home, and the Music Sources are downloaded, and thenrecorded/fixed on the MD at home.

B2-6 DVD-R: Applying a group of the favorite musical compositions usingthe Internet at home, and the Music Sources are downloaded, and thenrecorded/fixed on the DVD at home.

B2-7 PC

4. Genre C: Purchase of Music Score(s)

C1 Business Use

C1-1 Purchasing it (them) as the data on the network.

C1-2 Applying on the network, and then purchasing it (them) as the musicscore(s) written on the paper(s)

C2 Personal Use

C2-1 Purchasing it (them) as the data on the network.

C2-2 Applying on the network, and then purchasing it (them) as the musicscore(s) written on the paper(s)

5. Genre D: Purchase of MIDI DATA

It will turn to be a new business when producing the MIDI data at a timeof producing the original sound source(s).

D1 Business Use: Selling to the Karaoke business

D1-1 Purchasing it (them) as the data on the network.

D2 Personal Use

D2-1 Purchasing it (them) as the data on the network.

6. Genre E: Application for Performance

E1 Business Use: Applications at a time of performance by theprofessional artists or musicians at the concert, the live-house, etc.

E2 Personal Use: Applications at a time of performance by the Amateurartists or musicians at the concert, the live-house, etc. No charge willbe made for the performance, but only for the survey of the musicalcompositions to be used.

7. Genre F: Broadcasting Use of Musical Composition(s)

In principle, all musical compositions can be used for broadcasting.

F1 Business Use

F1-1 Broadcasting Program(s) for the Radio Station(s).

F1-2 Broadcasting Program(s) for the TV Station(s).

8. Genre G: Synchronization

For use in the TV image(s), the movie image(s), and the commercialimage(s) as the background music.

G1 Business Use

G1-1 Synchronization for use in the movie image(s)

G1-2 Synchronization for use in the TV image(s)

G1-3 Synchronization for use in the video-gram image(s)

G1-4 Synchronization for use in the game soft image(s)

G1-5 Synchronization for use in the CM image(s)

9. Genre H: Application for Alteration

For producing a new music by altering the existing musicalcomposition(s) [sound source(s), musical score(s)], it is desirable toproduce a cover music of the existing musical composition(s), and/or toproduce an entirely different musical composition by sampling theexisting sound source(s) at a time of producing the dance music and thelike which are popular at the present time.

H1 Business Use

H1-1 Usage permit of the existing sound sources sampling

H1-2 at a time when producing the cover music of the existing musicalcomposition(s) [such as the Japanese Cover version of the western music]

Charging Rate & Fee File:

ISRC

Ratio of the Original Disc:the Copyright

-   -   1. Ratio within the Original Disc        -   Initial Original Disc:Common Original Disc        -   Original Disc:Licensee        -   Individual:Company:Organization        -   Produce Royalty Rate        -   Main Artist Royalty Rate        -   Sub-main Artist Royalty Rate    -   2. Ratio within the Copyright        -   Songwriter:Composer:Arranger:Publisher        -   Publisher:Common Publishers        -   OP:FSP:SP        -   Individual:Company:Organization        -   Organization:Organization

In the following, some examples for illustrating the above mentionedFiles will be described in detail. Here, it is assumed that the user isa business person (hereinafter it is just referred to as the user) whois in charge of selecting the music for the music program to bebroadcast on the radio, by using the system of the present invention.Then, the user activates the facing equipment and inserts the IC cardwhich also functions as the ID card of the registered user. By enteringthe password (or this process may be omitted since the IC card containsthe information of the identification number, which will function thesame), the display device on the monitor equipment displays the initialscreen for the business user such as shown in FIG. 37 a.

At this time, the ID number and the using equipment number areconstituted as a user data. ([User Data A]

First of all, an operation of specifying the musical composition is tobe implemented. Since the information of the candidate musicalcompositions has been entered in advance by applicably fulfilling therespective items on the “retrieval menu” displayed on the screen of thedisplay device such as shown in FIG. 36.

After having specified the candidate musical compositions, the menu onthe screen changes to the “initial menu” for the business user such asshown in FIG. 37 a, and as a default the item “Musical CompositionRetrieval” is accentuated with a color and the retrieval of candidatemusical compositions are implemented as whether or not these candidatemusical compositions have already been registered in the system. Then,as the result of the retrieval, a list of the candidate musicalcompositions together with the indications of whether or not therespective candidate musical compositions have already been registeredin the system are shown on the screen. The candidate musicalcompositions with the “OK” marks indicate that these candidate musicalcompositions have already been registered, and thus these candidatemusical compositions can proceed to the next step. ( [MusicalComposition List B]

Herein, it is assumed that the “Permission File” and the “Charging Rate& Fee File” corresponding to these candidate musical compositions havealso been registered in advance when the candidate musical compositionshave been registered in the system. Thus, the items in the respectivefiles as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39 have been either flagged (ornon-flagged if not applicable) or fulfilled (or emptied if notapplicable) in advance by the copyright owner(s) of the correspondingmusical composition(s) in accordance with the preferences by therightful claimant(s).

The user, then, selects the item(s) in the “initial menu” either bytouching the item(s) on the menu or the number (s) corresponding to therespective item(s) with a touch-pen.

In the present example, it is assumed that the user selects “2.Application of Broadcasting Use” from the items in the “initial menu”.When the user selected the item 2 by touching the item with the touchpen, the screen changes to the “broadcasting attributes entering menu”.The use then enters the broadcasting date, the net station name(s), andthe number of the net stations and the like on the “broadcastingattributes entering menu”. ( [Broadcasting Attribution Data C]

After having completed the above processes, the respective “PermissionFile” and the “Charging Rate & Fee File” for each of the candidatemusical compositions are referred (for example, see FIG. 40), and theinformation of the permitted contents, the original disc and thecopyright regarding the candidate musical compositions are obtained asin the form of the data A, B, and C describe as above. Then, awave-packet is constituted by these data A, B and C, and the wave-packetis transmitted to the host-computer 5302 such as the one shown in FIG.33 in the so-called the “Music Global Access System (MGAS)” of thepresent invention for the evaluation of the candidate musicalcompositions concerning the status or the states of the original discand the copyright, as well as the permitted contents for the items.

In the present example, the referred item in the Permission Files forthe candidate musical composition is just the item of the “BroadcastingUse”, and the content thereof consists of F1-1 “the broadcasting programfor the radio station” and F1-2 “the broadcasting program for the TVstation”. Therefore, when the content of F1-1 is flagged, but thecontent of F1-2 is non-flagged for one of the candidate musicalcompositions, then that candidate musical composition is only permittedfor use in the broadcasting program for the radio station. Thus,together with the information in the “Charging Rate & Fee File” for thatcandidate musical composition, the information of that content istransmitted to the MGAS for evaluating the copyright and the originalrecording right based on the updated various rights and contents in the“Permission File” and the “Charging Rate & Fee File”, while the user isinformed that one of the candidate musical compositions is onlypermitted for the radio broadcasting and thus no restriction will beapplied for that candidate musical composition through the displayscreen.

In the following, as an example, the process for the FM radio stationJ-WAVE used the following musical composition:

a) Seiko Matsuda/“AKAI SWEET-PEA”

b) Bon Jovi/“LIVIN' ON A PRAYER”

in the radio music program “J-WAVE SELECTION” which was broadcast on22:00 of Mar. 24, 1998, will be described in detail.

There is the tracking operation for evaluating whether or not the abovemusical compositions were accurately broadcast on the scheduledbroadcasting data along the broadcasting list. Here, the matching willbe made between the group of transmitted musical compositions which areaccumulated in the transmission unit of the broadcasting stationed andthe broadcasting list in the evaluation unit (not shown). In case of thebroadcasting accident, the sudden change of the broadcasting schedule,and the like, the correct data of the group of transmitted musicalcompositions of the LOGIN system in the broadcasting unit is re-writtenas the data of use in the evaluation unit.

The data of use in the evaluation unit are re-written everyday, andtransmitted to the MGAS in accordance with the contract agreementbetween the broadcasting station and the MGAS, for example every week,or every month, and the like.

In the following, the process of publishing rights will be describedwith reference to the above-mentioned example.

Presently, in Japan, a payment for the broadcasting fee of the copyrightbetween the JASRAC and the TV/Radio station(s) is conducted based on theannual blanket contract. For instance, if the annual sales volume of theRadio station were to be 10,000,000,000 yen, then 2% of that amount,i.e., 200,000,000 yen is to be paid to the JASRAC. Thereafter, thefurther distribution will be conducted as described before.

Now, a process similar to the one just described will be illustratedusing the MGAS of the present invention. Assuming that theabove-mentioned two musical compositions were broadcast 100 timesannually, and further assuming that the total number of use for themusical compositions at the J-WAVE is to be 100,000, then yen can beobtained for each musical composition. This 200,000 yen is thendistributed to the songwriter, the broadcasting fee of(100/100,000)×200,000,000 yen=200,000, the musical composer, the musicalarranger, and the publisher in accordance with the distribution ratioindicated in the respective “Charging Rate & Fee File” corresponding tothe Seiko Matsuda's musical compositions, after the commission of theJASRAC is subtracted therefrom. In case of Bon Jovi, the remainingamount of broadcasting fee after the commission of the JASRAC beingsubtracted is distributed to the ASCAP, the songwriter, the musicalcomposer, the musical arranger, and the publisher in accordance with thedistribution ratio indicated in the respective “Charging Rate & FeeFile” corresponding to the Bon Jovi's musical composition.

Now, the process of the original disc right will be described in detail.

1. For the Recording Producer:

Presently, there is an agreement for the broadcasting fee of theoriginal disc between the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ)and the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters In Japan (NACBJ)which is a parent organization of the TV/Radio stations.

1% of the annual total sales volume of the commercial broadcastingstations in Japan is being paid to the RIAJ as the use fee of theoriginal disc. For instance, if the annual total sales volume of allcommercial broadcasting stations were 1,000,000,000,000 yen, then the 1%thereof (=1,000,000,000 yen) is to be paid to the RIAJ. Presently, thebroadcasting fee of the original disc is distributed to the respectiverecording companies by using the system with less degraded than thesampling system. However, using the MGAS of the present invention, forexample, 1% of the annual total sales volume by the J-WAVE, i.e.,10,000,000,000 yen×˜1%=100,000,000 yen is paid to the RIAJ as thebroadcasting fee of the original disc. Then the similar procedures asfor the publishing rights will take place with reference to the“Charging Rate & Fee File”.

Assuming that the above-mentioned two musical compositions werebroadcast 100 times annually, and further assuming that the total numberof use for the musical compositions at the J-WAVE is to be 100,000,then, the broadcasting fee of (100/100,000)×˜100,000,000 yen=100,000 yencan be obtained for each musical composition. This 100,000 yen is thendistributed to the recording company, the entertainment production, andthe like in accordance with the original disc contribution ratioindicated in the respective “Charging Rate & Fee File” corresponding tothe Seiko Matsuda's musical compositions, after the commission of theRIAJ is subtracted therefrom. In case of Bon Jovi, the remaining amountof broadcasting fee after the commission of the RIAJ being subtracted isdistributed to the recording company outside of Japan through thelicensed recording company in accordance with the ratio indicated in therespective “Charging Rate & Fee File” corresponding to the Bon Jovi'smusical composition.

2. For the Artist(s):

At the same time, the payment of the secondary use fee of the originaldisc right is conducted by the NACBJ to the artist(s). For instance, ifthe annual total sales volume of all commercial broadcasting stationswere 1,000,000,000,000 yen, then the 1% thereof (=1,000,000,000 yen) isto be paid to the Japan Council of Performer's Organizations (JCPO).Then, from there, the payments are made to the respective organizations.

Now the flow of the payment by using the MGAS of the present inventionwill be described.

For example, assuming that the above-mentioned two musical compositionswere broadcast 100 times annually, and further assuming that the totalnumber of use for the musical compositions at the J-WAVE is to be100,000, then, the broadcasting fee of (100/100,000)×˜100,000,000yen=100,000 yen can be obtained for each musical composition. This100,000 yen is then distributed to the artist(s), the entertainmentproduction with which the artist(s) is associated, and theorganization(s) with the entertainment production(s) is associated andthe like in accordance with the contract distribution ratio indicated inthe respective “Charging Rate & Fee File” corresponding to the SeikoMatsuda's musical compositions, after the commission of the JCPO issubtracted therefrom. In case of Bon Jovi, the remaining amount ofbroadcasting fee after the commission of the JCPO being subtracted isdistributed to the artist(s), the entertainment production with whichthe artist(s) is associated, and the organization(s) such as AFM, AFTRA,and the like with which the entertainment production(s) is associatedand the like in accordance with the ratio indicated in the respective“Charging Rate & Fee File” corresponding to the Bon Jovi's musicalcomposition.

The outline of the above processes is shown in FIG. 40. As can be seenfrom the above explanation, the similar procedures as described abovewill take place for the different types of users.

Referring to FIG. 41, the above mentioned process will be described indetail.

The MGAS system of the present invention is activated by inserting theIC card into the IC card-read (step ST1). Then, a type of the user whohas just activated the MGAS system is identified from the informationstored in the memory of the IC card (step ST2). Next, the “retrieval”menu is displayed on the screen of the display device (step ST3), andthe applicable items on the “retrieval” menu for the candidate musicalcomposition are fulfilled (step ST4). The DB (the musical database) isretrieved in accordance with the information of the type of user whichis identified as well as the items on the “retrieval” menu fulfilled(step ST5). It is evaluated whether or not the candidate musicalcomposition has already been registered in the system prior to theactivation of the MGAS system (step ST6), and the result of theevaluation is displayed on the screen to indicate whether or not thecandidate musical composition has already been registered in the MGASsystem and at the same time the proper “initial” menu is displayed onthe screen in accordance with the information of the type of useridentified as above (step ST7). If the candidate musical composition hasalready been registered in the MGAS system (step ST8), then theappropriate items on the “initial” menu is selected in accordance withthe type of user identified as above (step ST9). When either theprofessional user or the general user is selected in the step ST9, thenthe corresponding items in the “Permission File” is retrieved based onthe selected item(s) on the proper “initial” menu (step ST10), and theresult of the retrieval is displayed on the screen to indicate whetheror not the selected item(s) is permissible one(s) (step ST11). When theselected item(s) is not permissible in the step ST11, then returns tothe step ST9. On the other hand, when the selected item(s) ispermissible, then the DB is retrieved in accordance with the informationof the “Charging Rate & Fee File” (step ST12), and the applicablecopyright & royalties are processed in accordance with the result of theretrieval of the DB (step ST13). Then, the result is to be confirmedwhether or not it is an appropriate (step ST14), and if the result isconfirmed, then the process is terminated (step ST15).

When the type of user is a rightful claimant such as the copyrightowner/publisher, and the like in the step ST9, then an appropriateinformation for the item(s) is altered/entered in the “Permission File”and/or the “Charging Rate and Fee File” (step ST16). Then thealtered/entered information is processed to update the content of the DB(step ST17), and the result of the process such as the altered/entereditem is displayed on the screen (step ST18), and proceeds to the step ST14 as described above.

Although the above-described embodiments of the present invention aremainly directed to the music, the present invention is not limited tothe music only.

The present invention is also applicable to other forms of themultimedia such as the printed matters including books, magazines,newspapers, any kinds of journals, as well as the photographs, the gamesoftware programs, the motion pictures, the still pictures, the videos,and the likes, which can be treated in the digital forms (electronicsforms) or which can be transformed from the analogue forms to thedigital forms, through Internet and/or other communication networksystems.

More particularly, the schemes for the permission codes and the relatedmethods of coding the contents according to the present invention arealso applicable to all of the above-mentioned multimedia in the similarmanner as described in the above-described embodiments for the music,without departing from the concepts used for the music.

In the present invention, the set of permitted potential uses of themusical composition information may include play, copy, transmit anddistribute, but not limited thereto, and the possible forms of transmitmay include surface, cable, internet or satellite, but not limitedthereto, and the possible forms of medium for copy may include stream,local-HDD, flash memory, stick memory or MD, but other forms of mediamay be used.

FIG. 42 shows one embodiment of a system for granting permission ofuser's personal information to a third party according to the presentinvention. In the present invention, the third party is any one of or acombination of two or more of an information distributor, an advertisingagency, an advertiser, a merchandise agency and other user.

As shown in FIG. 42, the system 7010 for granting permission of a user'spersonal information to a third party, includes:

a terminal device 7011 for entering a personal information of the userand a permission information indicating at least one permissible use ofthe personal information of the user by a third party, for storing thepersonal information and the permission information entered, forreceiving from the third party an item in accordance with the permissioninformation stored therein from the third party; and

an information management device 7012 electrically connected to theterminal device 7011 for managing the personal information and thepermission information stored in the terminal device 7011, forevaluating the personal information stored therein in accordance withthe permission information stored therein if an access to the personalinformation is requested from the third party, and for providing to thethird party the requested personal information if the access to therequested personal information is permissible in accordance with aresult of the evaluation.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the system 7010 may beconfigured as any form of a mobile phone, a PDA, a notebook typecomputer, or a desktop type computer, and the terminal device 7011 andthe information management device 7012 may be incorporated into themobile phone, the PDA, the notebook type computer or the desktop typecomputer.

FIG. 43 shows a detailed structure of the terminal device 7011 shown inFIG. 62. As shown in FIG. 43, the terminal device 7011 shown in FIG. 42consists of;

a data input device 7011-1 operable by a user for entering a personalinformation of a user and a permission information indicating at leastone permissible use of the personal information by a third party;

a memory 7011-2 for storing the personal information and the permissioninformation entered from the data input device;

a receiving device 7011-3 for receiving from the third party an item inaccordance with the permission information stored in the memory 7011-2as a consequence of permitting the access to the personal informationrequested from the third party, and wherein the item is an advertisementand/or a latest information of a product and/or a service pertinent tothe personal information of the user, the receiving device 7011-3 iscapable of receiving a content selected by the user from a library ofmultimedia LIM;

an interactive device 7011-4 for interacting the user with the thirdparty associated with the advertisement and/or the latest information,wherein the interactive device 7011-4 is operable by the user forordering the product and/or the service to the third party, theinteractive device 7011-4 is capable of interacting the user with thethird party associated with the content selected by the user;

a display device 7011-5 for displaying the information entered from thedata input device 7011-1, the advertisement and/or the latestinformation, and the content received by the receiving device 7011-3;and

a control device 7011-6 electrically connected to all of the devices7011-1 to 7011-5 for controlling these devices 7011-1 to 7011-5.

FIG. 44 shows a detailed structure of the information management device7012 shown in FIG. 42. As shown in FIG. 44, the information managementdevice 7012 includes:

a request receiving device 7012-1 for receiving from the third party arequest of accessing to the personal information stored in the memory7011-2;

an evaluation device 7012-2 for evaluating whether or not the request ofaccessing to the personal information from the third party ispermissible in accordance with the permission information stored in thememory 7011-2;

an output device 7012-3 for providing to the third party the requestedpersonal information in accordance with the result of the evaluationperformed by the evaluation device 7012-2; and

an update device 7012-4 for updating the permission information storedin the memory 7011-2 if the user enters an updated permissioninformation for the permission information stored in the memory 7011-2using the data input device 7011-1. The update device 7012-4 is alsocapable of updating the personal information stored in the memory 7011-2if the user enters an updated personal information for the personalinformation stored in the memory 7011-2 using the data input device7011-1. The update device 7012-4 may be configured as to be onlyoperable by the user.

FIG. 45 shows a system 7013 for granting access to selected of thelibrary of multimedia LIM, which may be is incorporated with theinformation management device 7012 to form a content and informationmanagement station 7014 as shown in FIG. 42. The system 7013 includes:

a memory 7013-1 for storing the library of multimedia LIM and a contentpermission information associated with each content in the library ofmultimedia LIM;

a data input device 7013-2 for entering a set of attributes for themultimedia stored in the memory 7013-1;

a data retriever 7013-3 for retrieving information about a particularmedium of the library LIM in accordance with the entered set ofattributes;

an update device 7013-4 for updating the retrieved information about theparticular medium of the library LIM, if necessary; and

an output device 7013-5 for providing the retrieved information or theupdated information if it were updated in accordance with the contentpermission information.

The update device 7013-4 in the system 7013 is capable of updating thecontent permission information stored in the memory 7013-1.

The update device 7013-4 in the system 7013 may be configured so as tobe only operable by at least one claimant of each of the rightsassociated with a particular content of the library of multimedia LIM.

The library LIM, as shown in FIG. 46, is any one of or a combination oftwo or more of:

a) a library of music LIM-1;

b) a library of printed matters LIM-2, said printed matter includingbooks, magazines, newspapers, any types of journals;

c) a library of computer programming codes LIM-3, said computerprogramming codes including open source codes and/or closed source codesto be used for producing a computer program;

d) a library of movies LIM-4; and

e) a library of animations LIM-5.

The personal information according to the present invention comprises:

a) fixed personal information, the fixed personal information includinga name, a date of birth, and a sex of the user; and

b) variable personal information, the variable personal informationincluding an age, an occupation, a status of marriage, a dependent (ifapplicable), an annual income, and a preference of the user.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 47, thesystem 7010 may be configured such that the terminal device 7011 may bein the form of the mobile phone, the PDA, the notebook type computer, orthe desktop type computer, while the information management device 7012may be incorporated in a form of an information management center orstation, which communicates with the terminal device 7011 through abroadband communication scheme, an Internet, or any other means forcommunication available at the present time or to be available nearfuture.

The permission information is a Privacy Information Use Permission(PIUP), the PIUP comprises:

a) permitted privacy information described with privacy informationidentification (ID);

b) permitted relations described with a user ID and a trader ID; and

c) permitted conditions described with user permission codes

The content permission information according to the present invention isContent Use Permission (CUP), wherein the CUP comprises:

a) permitted content described with content identification (ID);

b) permitted relation described with right holder ID, trader ID andconsumer ID; and

c) permitted conditions described with content permission codes.

The permitted conditions according to the present invention includeintellectual property rights associated with the permitted content.

(1) Content Use Permission (CUP) from the right holders to the tradersconcerned, and then to the end-consumers (end-user);

(1-a) Permitted content described with the content ID

(1-b) Permitted relations

Sponsor Classifications described with the right holder ID, the traderID and the consumer ID

(1-c) Permitted condition(s) described with the Content Permission Codes(include a duration)

(2) Privacy Information Use Permission (PIUP) from the consumers to thetraders concerned, and then to the rights holders;

(2-a) Permitted privacy information described with the privacyinformation ID

(2-b) Permitted relation

Sponsor Accept/Non-Accept Classifications described with the consumer IDand the trader ID

(2-c) Permitted condition(s) described with the User Permission Codes(include duration)

The above-mentioned Privacy Information ID includes:

1) Photo Data: It can be described as IFJP01xxxxxxxxxxx defined by thecontent ID schema, where “x” indicates any numerical number oralphabetical character or a combination thereof.

2) Audio Data (or AudioVisual Data): It can be described as SO or VOJP

3) Attribution Data: It can be described as TIJPyyyyyyyyyy defined bythe content ID schema, where “y” indicates any numerical number oralphabetical character or a combination thereof.

-   -   (3-a) Basics        -   (3-a-1) Name        -   (3-a-2) Birth date        -   (3-a-3) Address        -   (3-a-4) Gender        -   (3-a-5) Single/Married        -   (3-a-6) Children        -   (3-a-7) Highest Education        -   (3-a-8) Occupation    -   (3-b) Variable basics        -   (3-b-1) Income        -   (3-b-2) Debts        -   (3-b-3) Main Bank        -   (3-b-4) Credit Card        -   (3-b-5) Recent Activities            -   (3-b-5-1) Travel            -   (3-b-5-2) Career up    -   (3-c) Options        -   (3-c-1) Hobby            -   (3-c-1-1) Sports            -   (3-c-1-2) Music            -   (3-c-1-3) Movie            -   (3-c-1-4) Arts        -   (3-c-2) Interests            -   (3-c-2-1) Religion            -   (3-c-2-2) Politics        -   (3-c-3) Favorites

The above-mentioned “User Permission Codes” consist of:

(a) <Permission to Privacy Information>

-   -   (a-1) Accept    -   (a-2) Not Accept

(b) <Permission Condition> If “Accept” is selected in (a)

-   -   (b-1) Open [No Condition specified by a customer]    -   (b-2) Closed [Under Certain Condition(s) specified by a        customer]

(c) <Charging Classification>

-   -   (c-1) Charged    -   (c-2) Free (of Charge)

(d) <Sponsor Accept/Non-Accept Classification>

-   -   (d-1) Non-Accept    -   (d-2) Accept        -   (d-2-1) Advertisement Accepted            -   (d-2-1-1) Audit with Synchronized Enforcement            -   (d-2-1-2) Advanced Audit            -   (d-2-1-3) Posted Audit            -   (d-2-1-4) Time Option            -   (d-2-1-5) Blanket        -   (d-2-2) Premier Accepted        -   (d-2-3) Coupon Accepted        -   (d-2-4) Privacy Information Disclosure Models Note:

(e) <Information Disclosure Classification>

-   -   (e-1) Personal Information Disclosure    -   (e-2) Family Information Disclosure

(f) <Fixed Personal Information Determination Element(s)>

-   -   (f-1) Name (First & Last)    -   (f-2) Date of Birth    -   (f-3) Sex

(g) <Variable Personal Information Determination Element(s)>

-   -   (g-1) Age    -   (g-2) Occupation        -   (g-2-1) Position    -   (g-3) Single/Married    -   (g-4) Dependent(s)    -   (g-5) Annual Income    -   (g-6) Preference (Liking)

(h) <Condition(s)>If “Closed” is selected in (b)

-   -   [Closed] Condition(s):    -   (h-1) names of traders, agencies;    -   (h-2) genre of services, products    -   (h-3) Specified time (duration)    -   (h-4) Specified period (duration)    -   (h-5) Permit All Advertisements    -   (h-6) Permit Only Ads matched with any one of the above    -   (h-7) with Charge(s) (for supplying the PI)    -   (h-8) No Charge (for supplying the PI)    -   (h-9) Trading with the requested items (contents)    -   (h-10) others

(i) <Update Classification>

-   -   (i-1) Annual    -   (i-2) Irregular

In the following, with reference to a flow diagram of FIG. 48, a firstembodiment of an operation of the system for granting permission ofuser's personal information to the third party shown in FIG. 42 will bedescribed in a concrete manner.

A consumer (i.e., a user) CON likes to listen to music through radioprograms which are broadcast from FM/AM radio stations, so he haspurchased a particular type of a mobile phone (i.e., a terminal device)7011 equipped with a click radio device (i.e., a receiving device)7011-3 which is adapted to receive radio programs broadcast from FM/AMradio stations, and which is also capable of downloading music into amemory 7011-2 (or any applicable equipments) installed in the mobilephone 7011.

In order to activate the click radio device 7011-3, the consumer CON isrequired to pre-register his personal information (STEP Y1), so that theconsumer CON clicks a function key provided in the mobile phone 7011 todisplay a pull-down menu PDM on a display device 7011-5 of the mobilephone 7011 (STEP Y2). In the menu PDM the consumer CON selects a“Register Form” RF (STEP Y3), and enters his personal information foreach items of he “Register Form” RF in accordance with the guidelinesindicated on the menu PDM (STEP Y4).

After having filled out all items of the “Register Form” RF, theconsumer CON clicks the “Completed” button displayed in the menu PDM(STEP Y5), thereby the data of consumer CON's personal information isstored in the memory 7011-2 of the mobile phone 7011 as the data of“Privacy Information Use Permission (PIUP)” of the consumer CON (STEPY6). At the same time, in response thereto, the message of “Now You CanUtilize The Click Radio Device. Thank You.” is displayed on the displaydevice 7011-5 of the mobile phone 11 for the consumer CON (STEP Y7).

While the consumer CON is listening to a FM radio program “XX” broadcastfrom one of the FM radio stations through the click radio device 7011-3of the mobile phone 7011, an announcement from the FM radio program “XX”has just broadcast, indicating that any listener to the FM radio program“XX” is enable to download any favorite music of predetermined numbers(e.g., five music) that are being played in the FM radio program “XX”into either a web-jukebox service provided on the website of the FMradio program “XX” or into the memory 7011-2 of the mobile phone 11 asdesired by the consumer, absolutely free of charge (STEP Y8).

In so doing, the consumer permits an AD agency “H” to access to hispersonal information, i.e., “PIUP” stored in the memory 7011-2 of themobile phone 7011 (STEP Y9). Reviewing this condition and otherregulations posted on the website of the FM radio program “XX”, theconsumer CON has decided to permit the AD agency “H” to access to his“PIUP” stored in the memory 7011-2 of the mobile phone 7011 (STEP Y10).

When a request of accessing to his “PIUP” stored in the memory 7011-2 isreceived by the request receiving device 7012-1 of the informationmanagement device (IMD) 7012, the evaluation device 7012-2 of the IMD7012 evaluates whether or not the request received by the requestreceiving device 7012-1 is the request of accessing to the “PIUP” of theconsumer CON from the AD agency “H” permitted by the consumer CON (STEPY11). If it is the request of accessing to the “PIUP” of the consumerCON from the AD agency “H” in accordance with a result of the evaluationby the evaluation device 7012-2 (STEP Y12), then the output device7012-3 of the IMD 7012 provides the “PIUP” of the consumer CON stored inthe memory 7011-2 of the mobile telephone 7011 to the AD agency “H”(STEP Y13).

Once having received the “PIUP” of the consumer CON (STEP Y14), the ADagency “H” may transmit one or more of the targeted advertisements (ADs)of the sponsor or sponsors of the FM radio program “XX” to the mobilephone 11 of the consumer CON in accordance with the conditions indicatedin the “PIUP” (STEP Y15).

In the “PIUP” the consumer CON indicates that he likes to smoke acigarette, and he is actually a heavy smoker as he consumes 5 packs of“Mild Seven” (1 pack contains 20 cigarettes) a day (STEP Y16). Since oneof the FM program “XX” 's sponsors is the JT (Japan Tobacco Co., Ltd.),the AD agency “H” has transmitted the targeted AD of the “Mild Seven”from the JT to the consumer CON (STEP Y17). As a result, the consumerCON receives a targeted AD from the JT by the receiving device 7011-3 ofthe mobile phone 7011 (STEP Y18), and then the targeted AD received bythe receiving device 11-3 is displayed on the display device 7011-5 ofthe mobile phone 7011 (STEP Y19).

Once the AD has been transmitted to the mobile phone 7011 of theconsumer CON, he can download his favorite five songs from the FMprogram “XX” by just clicking the click radio device 7011-3 whenever thesongs are playing on air (STEP Y20). If his favorite song is playing inthe middle, the mobile phone 7011 enables to record the attributes ofthat song instantaneously into the memory 7011-2 by clicking theappropriate button on the click radio device 7011-3 (STEP Y21). Then, ata later time, it enables to download that song from the library of musicLIM-1 through the system 7013 in accordance with the recorded attributesof that song, and then to store that song into the memory 7011-2 of themobile phone 7011 (STEP Y22).

The following is another embodiment of the operation of the systemaccording to the present invention, and only the description thereof isprovided below since the above-described operation is applicable theretoin principle.

In the meantime, in the AD received from the JT, a campaign of the “MildSeven” is shown, which announces that “when purchasing one pack of the“Mild Seven” from a vending machine using a mobile phone with apre-registered “PIUP” of a consumer, a 10-point coupon is obtainable,and when the total of 1000 points are accumulated by collecting thecoupons, then the consumer can download any five songs from the “JT'sMiles Davis Jazz Collections”, a website of which can be accessedthrough the Internet, into his desired medium such as a MD, for free”.

Watching this AD on the display device 7011-5 of the mobile phone 7011,the consumer CON has decided to collect the coupons that are necessaryto download his favorite five songs from the “JT's Miles Davis JazzCollections” into a Smart Card as his desired medium, which isconfigured as an attachable/detachable to the mobile phone 7011.

As the consumer CON is walking toward a park in the vicinity of hishome, he stops by a cigarette vending machine VM on the way. As shown inFIG. 48, the cigarette vending machine VM is equipped with aninteractive device INT which interacts with the interactive device7011-4 of the mobile phone 7011 when the mobile phone 7011 is placednear the interactive device INT of the vending machine VM.

By interacting with the interactive device 7011-4 of the mobile phone7011, the interactive device INT in the vending machine VM identifies astatus (eligibility) of the consumer CON for purchasing a cigarette (inparticular, his age) and evaluates the consumer CON's preference forcigarette (i.e., “Mild Seven” in this case) in accordance with the“PIUP” stored in the memory 7011-2 of the mobile telephone 7011. Thenthe cigarette vending machine VM vends one pack of the “Mild Seven” whenthe consumer CON has deposited or inserted an proper amount of coins orbill for the pack into the vending machine VM while the interactivedevice INT in the vending machine VM issues a 10 point coupon to themobile phone 7011. The above-mentioned deposition process may beperformed in a different manner. That is, it may be configured to chargethe cost for purchasing the pack of “Mild Seven” into the account of theconsumer CON, which can be used as the account for withdrawing a paymentof the mobile phone 7011's use by the consumer CON.

In the meantime, the interactive device INT in the vending machine VMalso transmits to the JT information indicating that the consumer CONhas purchased one pack of “Mild Seven” through the vending machine VMlocated near the park.

The interactive device 7011-4 of the mobile phone 7011 receives the 10point coupon from the interactive device INT of the vending machine VMand stores it into the memory 7011-2 of the mobile telephone 7011.

When the consumer CON has collected the sufficient amount of coupons,i.e., 1000 point or more coupons into the memory 7011-2 of the mobilephone 7011 in the similar manner described above, he accesses to thewebsite of the “JT's Miles Davis Jazz Collections” and selects hisfavorite five songs, for example, “So What”, “Freddie Freeloader”, “Bluein Green”, “All Blues” and “Flamenco Sketches” (which constitutes thefamous album “Kind of Blue” of Miles Davis and his group) from the menuof “JT's Miles Davis Jazz Collections” listed on the website anddownloads them into the Smart Card attached to the mobile phone 7011.

Using the sub-system 7013, the JT has obtained the permissions of usingthe substantial numbers of the Miles Davis' music collections from therights holders thereof in advance, and the Miles Davis' musiccollections may form the library of music LIM-IMD.

In the meantime, the update device 7012-4 is capable of updating theconditions and/or information in the “PIUP” of the consumer CON wheneverit is necessary. For example, when the consumer CON was a single (notmarried) at a time when registering his “PIUP”, but just recently he hasmarried with his wife “B”. Then the consumer CON could update his “PIUP”using the update device 7012-4 of the information management device 7012in the similar manner as described above.

The detailed operation of the sub-system 7013 is described in thefore-mentioned embodiments in the present application, and according itwill be omitted here. In addition, although it is not describedexplicitly in the above-described embodiment it should be understoodthat the devices 7012-1 to 7012-4 of the information management device7012 are controlled by the control device 7012-5. Similarly, it shouldbe understood that the devices 7013-1 to 7013-5 of the system 7013 arecontrolled by the control device 7013-6.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by foregoing description, and all changesthat come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims aretherefore intended to be embraced therein.

1. A system for permitting a user to access media selections stored on aremote storage medium, comprising: a resolving station beingelectronically linked to a remote station from which a user transmits arequest for access to a selected data composition, said requestcomprising user identification information and a code corresponding tosaid selected data composition to which access is desired, saidresolving station comprising: storage means for storing informationregarding a plurality of data compositions, said information comprisinginformation regarding access authorized for each of said plurality ofdata compositions and accounting information for each of said pluralityof data compositions; receiving means for accepting from a user saidrequest for access to a selected data composition; means for verifying,based on identification information provided by said user and said codecorresponding to said selected data composition, whether or not saiduser is authorized for access to said selected data composition; meansfor implementing, based on said accounting information regarding saidselected data composition and said code corresponding to said selecteddata composition, a predetermined accounting process for access by saiduser to said selected data composition, if said user is authorized forsaid access to said selected data composition; and transmission meansfor transmitting information regarding authorization of said user toaccess said selected data composition and the result, if any, of saidaccounting process for said selected data composition.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said information regarding a plurality of datacompositions further comprises media data associated with each of saidplurality of data compositions, said resolving station furthercomprising means for copying media data regarding said selected datacomposition for transmission to said user.
 3. The system of claim 2,wherein said means for copying media data comprises: media data readingmeans for reading media data associated with said selected datacomposition by retrieving said media data from said storage means, ifsaid user is authorized for said access to said selected datacomposition; and means for preparing said media data associated withsaid selected data composition for transmission to said user.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein said means for preparing comprises copyingmeans for electronically copying, into an electronic data file, saidmedia data retrieved from said storage means, wherein said resolvingstation is further capable of forwarding said electronic data filecontaining said media data associated with said selected datacomposition copied thereon to said user after purchase thereof.
 5. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein said means for preparing comprises recordingmeans for recording, into a predetermined recording medium, said mediadata retrieved from said storage means, wherein said resolving stationis further capable of forwarding said predetermined recording mediumcontaining said media data associated with said selected datacomposition recorded thereon to said user after purchase thereof.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said transmission means transmits saidinformation regarding authorization of said user to access said selecteddata composition to a second remote station, said second remote stationcomprising: storage means for storing information regarding a pluralityof data compositions, said information comprising media data associatedwith each of said plurality of data compositions; and means for copyingmedia data associated with said selected data composition fortransmission to said user.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein said meansfor copying media data further comprises: media data reading means forreading media data associated with said selected data composition byretrieving said media data from said storage means, if said user isauthorized for said access to said selected data composition; and meansfor preparing said media data associated with said selected datacomposition for transmission to said user.
 8. The system of claim 7,wherein said means for preparing comprises copying means forelectronically copying recording, into an electronic data file, saidmedia data retrieved from said storage means, wherein said second remotestation is further capable of forwarding said electronic data filecontaining said media data associated with said selected datacomposition copied thereon to said user after purchase thereof.
 9. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein said means for preparing comprises recordingmeans for recording, into a predetermined recording medium, said mediadata retrieved from said storage means, wherein said second remotestation is further capable of forwarding said predetermined recordingmedium containing said media data associated with said selected datacomposition recorded thereon to said user after purchase thereof. 10.The system of claim 6, wherein said information regarding saidinformation regarding authorization of said user to access said selecteddata composition transmitted from said resolving station to said secondremote station comprises a second code associated with said selecteddata composition, said second code comprising information regardingmedia data associated with said selected data composition.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein said accounting informationcomprises beneficial rights ownership information and royalty rateinformation associated with copyright and other rights associated witheach of said plurality of data compositions; and wherein said resolvingstation further comprises: an accounting information retrieval means forretrieving, from said storage means, accounting information regardingsaid selected data composition from among accounting informationregarding said plurality of data compositions; calculation means fordetermining an account for a user of said selected data composition andfor determining a royalty due for at least one beneficial rights ownerof said data composition, based on said rights ownership information andsaid royalty rate information regarding said selected data composition,for said access by said user to said selected data composition; andmeans for informing said user account of a payment due for said accessby said user to said selected data composition, said payment duecomprising said royalty due for at least one beneficial rights owner ofsaid data composition as determined by said calculation means.
 12. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein said resolving station furthercomprises payment accepting means for accepting payment from said userfor access to said selected data composition, said payment comprisingsaid royalty for at least one beneficial rights owner of said datacomposition as determined by said calculation means.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein said resolving station further comprisesroyalty payment distribution means for distributing a royalty payment tosaid at least one beneficial rights owner of said data composition towhom a royalty is due for access by said user to said selected datacomposition, as determined by said calculation means.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said remote station from which said usertransmits said request for access comprises a transmitting device fortransmitting said code corresponding to said selected data compositionto which access is desired, wherein said code comprises informationregarding access authorized for said selected data composition andaccounting information for said selected data composition.
 15. Thesystem according to claim 14, further comprising: a signal transmissionstation for converting at least one data composition, said informationregarding access authorized for said at least one data composition andsaid accounting information for at least one selected data compositioninto predetermined signals and for transmitting said signals; and areceiving device capable of enabling a user to sense said at least onedata composition by receiving said signals transmitted from said signaltransmission station, and of selectively storing into a storage device,by a predetermined operation, the code corresponding to a selected datacomposition being transmitted.
 16. The system according to claim 15,wherein said receiving device is a radio receiver, a television receiveror a personal computer receiver, and wherein said signals transmitted bysaid first station relate to at least one data composition and datacomposition information corresponding thereto for which music data,video data, software data or combinations thereof were used as aninformation source.
 17. The system according to claim 15, wherein saidreceiving device comprises a data storage triggering means for causingselective storage, into said storage device, of the code correspondingto a selected data composition being transmitted, and said predeterminedoperation that causes the selective storage of information correspondingto said selected data composition is a user activating said data storagetriggering means on said receiving device while said data composition isbeing transmitted.
 18. The system according to claim 17, wherein saiddata storage triggering means comprises a data information storagebutton, and said predetermined operation comprises a user pressing onsaid button.
 19. The system according to claim 19, wherein data storagetriggering means comprises a monitor screen capable of displaying avisual indication to said user that the code corresponding to a selecteddata composition being transmitted is available for storage, and saidpredetermined operation comprises a user clicking a cursor on saidvisual indication.
 20. The system according to claim 15 wherein saidreceiving device is electronically connected to said remote station. 21.The system according to claim 15, further comprising a card-type storagemedium including a storage device and an integrated circuit, said codebeing capable of being stored in said storage device of said card-typestorage medium, wherein said receiving device is further capable ofattaching and detaching said card-type storage medium, and ofselectively storing into said storage device of said card-type storagemedium the code corresponding to a selected data composition beingtransmitted when said card-type storage medium is attached thereto, andwherein said remote station is further capable of attaching anddetaching said card-type storage medium, of reading an identificationinformation stored in said storage device of said card-type storagemedium when said card-type storage medium is attached thereto, and ofreading said code corresponding to said selected data composition storedin said storage device of said card-type storage medium.
 22. In a systemfor providing access to media selections stored on a remote storagemedium having (a) a transmission station for converting at least onedata composition and information corresponding thereto intopredetermined signals and for transmitting said signals; (b) a receivingstation capable of receiving said signals and enabling a user to sensesaid data composition, and capable of selectively storing into a storagedevice said information corresponding to said at least one datacomposition being transmitted, a resolving station being electronicallylinked to a remote station from which a user transmits a request foraccess to a selected data composition, said request comprising useridentification information and a code corresponding to said selecteddata composition, said resolving station comprising: storage means forstoring, regarding each of a plurality of data compositions, informationregarding access authorized for each of said plurality of datacompositions and accounting information for each of said plurality ofdata compositions; receiving means for accepting from a user a requestfor access to a selected data composition; means for verifying, based onidentification information provided by said user, said code and saidaccess information corresponding to said selected data composition,whether or not said user is authorized for the requested access to saidselected data composition; means for implementing, based on saidaccounting information regarding said selected data composition and saidcode corresponding to said selected data composition, a predeterminedaccounting process for access by said user to said selected datacomposition, if said user is authorized for the requested access to saidselected data composition; and transmission means for transmittinginformation regarding authorization of said user to access said selecteddata composition and the result, if any, of said accounting process forsaid selected data composition.
 23. The resolving station of claim 22,wherein said storage means further stores media data associated witheach of said plurality of data compositions, said resolving stationfurther comprising means for copying media data regarding said selecteddata composition for transmission to said user.
 24. The resolvingstation of claim 23, wherein said means for copying media datacomprises: means for reading media data associated with said selecteddata composition by retrieving said media data from said storage means,if said user is authorized for said access to said selected datacomposition; and means for preparing said media data associated withsaid selected data composition for transmission to said user.
 25. Theresolving station of claim 24, wherein said means for preparingcomprises copying means for electronically copying, into an electronicdata file, said media data retrieved from said storage means, and saidtransmission means is further capable of transmitting said electronicdata file containing said media data associated with said selected datacomposition copied thereon to said user after purchase thereof.
 26. Theresolving station of claim 24, wherein said means for preparingcomprises recording means for recording, into a predetermined recordingmedium, said media data retrieved from said storage means, wherein saidresolving station is further capable of forwarding said predeterminedrecording medium containing said media data associated with saidselected data composition recorded thereon to said user after purchasethereof.
 27. The resolving station of claim 22, wherein saidtransmission means transmits said information regarding authorization ofsaid user to access said selected data composition to a remote station,said remote station comprising: storage means for storing informationregarding a plurality of data compositions, said information comprisingmedia data associated with each of said plurality of data compositions;and means for copying media data associated with said selected datacomposition for transmission to said user.
 28. The resolving station ofclaim 27, wherein said means for copying media data further comprises:media data reading means for reading media data associated with saidselected data composition by retrieving said media data from saidstorage means, if said user is authorized for said access to saidselected data composition; and means for preparing said media dataassociated with said selected data composition for transmission to saiduser.
 29. The resolving station of claim 28, wherein said means forpreparing comprises copying means for electronically copying, into anelectronic data file, said media data retrieved from said storage means,wherein said remote station is capable of forwarding said electronicdata file containing said media data associated with said selected datacomposition copied thereon to said user after purchase thereof.
 30. Theresolving station of claim 28, wherein said means for preparingcomprises recording means for recording, into a predetermined recordingmedium, said media data retrieved from said storage means, wherein saidremote station is further capable of forwarding said predeterminedrecording medium containing said media data associated with saidselected data composition recorded thereon to said user after purchasethereof.
 31. The resolving station of claim 27, wherein said informationregarding said information regarding authorization of said user toaccess said selected data composition transmitted from said resolvingstation to said remote station comprises a second code associated withsaid selected data composition, said second code comprising informationregarding media data associated with said selected data composition. 32.The resolving station according to claim 22, wherein said accountinginformation comprises beneficial rights ownership information androyalty rate information associated with a copyright and other rightsassociated with each of said plurality of data compositions, saidresolving station further comprising: means for retrieving, from saidstorage means, accounting information regarding said selected datacomposition from among accounting information regarding said pluralityof data compositions; calculation means for determining a royalty duefor at least one beneficial rights owner of said data composition, basedon said rights ownership information and said royalty rate informationregarding said selected data composition, for said requested access bysaid user to said selected data composition; and means for informingsaid user of a payment due for said requested access by said user tosaid selected data composition, said payment due comprising said royaltydue for at least one beneficial rights owner of said data composition asdetermined by said calculation means.
 33. The resolving stationaccording to claim 32 further comprising means for accepting paymentfrom said user for access to said selected data composition.
 34. Theresolving station according to claim 33 further comprising royaltypayment distribution means for distributing a royalty payment to said atleast one beneficial rights owner of said data composition to whom aroyalty is due for access by said user to said selected datacomposition, as determined by said calculation means.